During a hearing of the Senate Local Government Committee Tuesday, local government representatives and school business officials discussed alternatives to the current property tax collection system.
At the hearing, testifiers discussed Senate Bill 1099, which Acting Committee Chair Sen. Scott Martin (R-13th District) recently introduced. The legislation would give counties, municipalities and school districts increased flexibility to use alternative methods to collect property taxes, such as allowing county treasurers to collect them on behalf of a municipality.
“I firmly believe that schools and municipalities should be able to use whatever method of property tax collection is most efficient and convenient for the taxpayers,” Martin said. “Partnerships between counties and municipalities have been tremendously successful in Lancaster County, where more than two-thirds of municipalities utilize the County Treasurer for property tax collection. This legislation takes the next step by allowing every local government entity to do what is best for taxpayers based on their own unique needs and circumstances.”
Testifiers provided differing opinions on the bill. Some county and school business officials shared examples of unqualified elected local tax collectors who did not adequately perform the duties of the job. This had led to incorrect tax bills, overpayments and tax sales based on inaccurate information, they said.
“These examples demonstrate that there is a need for alternatives to the elected tax collector,” Elam Herr, assistant executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, said.
Several municipal tax collectors expressed concerns that the bill would undermine the work of tax collectors who are performing the job effectively.
Martin emphasized that the bill would not mandate that schools and municipalities make any changes.
“Sometimes having a local tax collector will be the best option for a community, but in other instances, it can create a whole host of problems,” Martin said. “Giving schools and municipalities more options to collect taxes will help each local government entity determine the best way to meet the needs of that individual community.”