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July 14, 2008

Shenango questioned about tax collections

By MaryAlice Meli

An audit of Shenango school district’s real estate tax collection for 2006 shows no findings, but the township has questions.

Township resident Dale “Butch” Wehr asked the supervisors last night how much is in question.

Solicitor Gabe Cilli said the figure is about $28,000 but emphasized “there is no confirmation of anything wrong.”

In April 2007, elected tax collector Carol M. Reed suffered a stroke and a heart attack, Cilli said.

The supervisors could not remove her because hers is an elected office. Then, “her family indicated that she couldn’t (return) and she resigned.”

Her work was assumed temporarily by South New Castle Borough’s tax collector, because that community is part of the Shenango school district. In January, the supervisors appointed Mary Jane Cousins to complete Reed’s term through Dec. 31, 2009.

Cilli said that Mark Turnley, a certified public accountant from Ambridge, performed an audit for the township because he had completed one for the school district in the fall.

Township secretary Brian Tanner said the township’s tax bills are more complicated than the school district’s because they include a street light tax for some residents, another assessment for those within a certain distance from a fire hydrant and a per capita tax.

A further complication, Tanner said, is that “in the past, school district and township (tax amounts) were on one statement. Now they’re separate because of a law that allows the taxpayer to pay in installments.”

Tanner said Reed provided totals for the four different levies, but not a more specific breakdown.

Dr. Daniel Bell, the Shenango schools superintendent, said Reed provided the district with a more complete breakdown that includes taxpayers’ names, tax amounts, payment dates and deposit records. He said she had done this at the district’s request to comply with the auditor’s requirements.

Bell said all money the district expected to be collected has been tallied.

Turnley said payments collected for the school district balanced with what had been deposited in the bank. However, he added, Reed’s record keeping for the township “left a difficult audit trail to follow the flow of money.”

Because the school and township tax bills were on the same statement, taxpayers often paid with a single check. Turnley said he needs further explanation, which he has not been able to get from Reed, about the method she used to compute the figures in the two accounts.

In addition, he said, some of the records were typed and some were handwritten. Some of the handwritten notes are illegible, he said, but not necessarily inaccurate. He said Reed might be able to clarify what they say but she has been too ill to do so.

“Potentially, this may all be resolved by a conversation with her office,” Turnley said.

“We don’t want to accuse anybody of anything,” Cilli said. “It’s in claim right now. The audit suggests a shortfall but it’s possible it all can be explained. I’ve always known her to try to do a good job.”

Reed’s bonding insurance company, Western Surety Co. of Sioux Falls, S.D., is now conducting an investigation.

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