Delinquent Tax Collector School districts have specific authority to appoint annually special collectors of delinquent taxes.28 On or before the first Monday of July the board of school directors may appoint one or more delinquent tax collectors to collect all delinquent school taxes from which the regular tax collector has been exonerated except for those taxes returned to the county tax claim bureau.

The delinquent tax collector has all the powers of a regular tax collector. The compensation is set by the school district. There is no authority to exact an additional fee from the delinquent taxpayers to compensate for the services of the delinquent tax collector.29 Any additional compensation must come from the tax receipts.

A 2000 amendment to the Local Tax Collection Law mandates all counties cities of the third class boroughs towns and townships to appoint the elected tax collector as the delinquent tax collector by ordinance with the same rights and responsibilities as school district special collectors of delinquent taxes. Third class city treasurers are to collect all unpaid taxes including delinquent taxes turned over at the expiration of the term of the previous treasurer.

As long as the elected tax collectors have the duplicate for real estate and code personal taxes they remain responsible for their collection. However after settlement the taxing district has the right to collect all unpaid taxes. Taxing districts have full authority to provide for collection of Act 511 taxes including delinquent taxes. In the past taxing bodies have added the costs for compensating the delinquent tax collector to the total taxes penalties and charges assessed by the delinquent taxpayer. However the Commonwealth Court has ruled there is no legal basis for imposing these costs on the taxpayer; such costs must be borne by the taxing district.

Of course any tax collector who illegally withholds funds owed to the taxing district becomes subject to criminal penalties and removal from office. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently held that an elected tax collector cannot be prosecuted for separate offenses under both the Crimes Code for theft and under the Local Tax Collection Law for embezzlement.All tax funds collected by the tax collector should be deposited in a bank account. Since bank services and fees vary tax collectors should shop for a financial institution which can best serve them.

The tax collector and ultimately the surety are responsible for these funds. The tax collector only serves as trustee of the funds; any interest earned on the tax monies belongs to the taxing district not to the tax collector.5 A tax collector should establish a separate account for depositing tax monies. Ideally a separate account should be established for each taxing district a tax collector for a joint district may open a joint account if the account includes the name of the joint tax collection district and not the name of the collector.

The EIN number of the taxing district should be used for identification purposes not the Social Security number of the tax collector. No payment of taxes shall be deposited into an account bearing only an individual’s name or SSN. All interest earned should be credited to the proper taxing district and paid over monthly or more frequently as the taxing district requires. In some jurisdictions tax collectors deposit funds directly into the accounts of the taxing districts. This practice is quite acceptable.

27. 72 P.S. 5860.204(b); Real Estate Tax Sale Law Section 204(b); Apollo Ridge School District v Tax Claim Bureau of Indiana County, 595 A.2d 217 141 Pa.Cmwlth. 111 1991. 28. 24 P.S. 6-686; Public School Code Section 686; Newhard v North Union Township School District, 111 A.2d 367 177 Pa. Super. 477 at 480 1952. 29. Brown supra at 196. 30. 72 P.S. 5511.26a; Local Tax Collection Law Section 26.1 31. 72 P.S. 5511.28; Local Tax Collection Law Section 28. 32. Selinsgrove Area School District v Krebs, 507 A.2d 906 96 Pa. Cmwlth. 303 1986 Failure of the tax collector to make the required payments cannot result in forfeit of compensation. But because commissions are often based on collections within a given period compensation can be delayed.