Tax collection woes listed

LAKE TWP. – Problems with receiving tax collections from Centax/Don Wilkinson Agency were raised at a recent township supervisors meeting.

Last week, township Secretary and Treasurer Carlene Price reported the township received only $14,935 in revenue from the earned income tax distributed by Centax.

"This is a 70 percent reduction from last year," she said. "Centax has only given us about 30 percent of what we are owed."

This problem is not limited to Lake Township. Price, a voting delegate on the Luzerne County Tax Collection Committee, said many other municipalities are in the same boat. As of July, Centax was holding $5.8 million that has not been distributed and the money is being held in a clearing house, she said.

"They are not equipped to handle this," Price said.

Plus, she said, Centax has not cashed the township's checks for payments on its employees issued for the first two quarters of the fiscal year.

The tax committee gave the agency 90 days to rectify these issues. This time period ended on Tuesday and Centax is currently in default.

"Fortunately, we have been able to stay in the black," Price said of the township's finances.

Also, Price said some residents of other municipalities reported they have not received refunds from Centax after filing their taxes. She advised any township residents who may also be affected to call Centax's solicitor at Centax's main number, 1-800-4centax.

Centax/Don Wilkinson Agency, a tax collecting company from Bridgeville, near Pittsburgh, was hired by the county to handle the tax collection, reconciliation and disbursement of the earned income tax in accord with a recent state mandate.

The tax collection committee will meet Aug. 22 and on the agenda will be Centax's contract and whether it should be voided due to its default.

In other matters:

•A contract was awarded for work on a section of Sorber Mountain Road. Bids were from Pikes Creek, $70,242; Pennsy Supply, $113,670; Popple Construction, $52,276; and B&J Paving, $74,163. Supervisors awarded the contract to Popple, the low bidder.

•BP Wind Energy was approved to do repairs to Sober Mountain Road, which they used in the development of the windmill project in Noxen.

•Fall clean-up is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 8, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

•Supervisors approved a motion to open a debit card account, for the purposes of making deposits with First National Bank.

The next supervisors meeting will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 in the municipal building.