Debbie Wachter Morris
New Castle News
NEW CASTLE —
Lawrence County property owners are getting their school tax notices a little late this year.
But they still will have two months to pay them at a 2 percent discount.
The Lawrence County assessment office, working with local school districts, has extended the discount payment period until Sept. 30.
After that, taxpayers will have until Nov. 30 to pay their taxes at face value. They will be penalized with an added charge if they pay late — during the month of December.
Residents should expect to receive school property tax bills by the end of this month, which is a one-month delay, explained county assessor J.R. Hardester.
The reason for the delay is that the county’s new computer system that generates the tax files experienced problems with accounts not balancing and incorrect assessments, Hardester explained.
The system is new to his office, he pointed out. The taxes previously were figured on a system operated by the county’s information technology department.
But when that one became dysfunctional, the county acquired a new system and the duties of generating a tax file shifted to the assessment office.
“The assessments multiplied by the millage weren’t equaling the tax value,” he said, because the computer was pulling information from a wrong field. His office had to review the program and correct it before it could send the tax files to the printing company.
“We wanted to send out bills with correct assessments,” Hardester said.
How the one-month delay will affect the income for the school districts will probably be very slight if at all, he said.
“People already know their information about how much they will pay, so it won’t make any difference,” Pulaski Township tax collector Shirley J. Snyder said.
But the change in the process has thrown her tax collection a curve.
“I’ve been in limbo and have just had to play it by ear,” she said.
Dr. C. Joyce Nicksick, superintendent of the Wilmington schools, does not anticipate the delay in tax notices affecting the district’s budget, “but in a tight budget year, any delay of incoming funds could have a slight impact,” she said.
The district has not figured into its budget any additional revenues it might receive from delinquent taxes, she said.
According to Hardester, the county contracts with Infocon of Ebensburg to print the tax notices and send them to the taxpayers.
“This is no fault of theirs,” he said, referring to the printing company.
Once Infocon receives the file, it usually has bills ready for each school district or taxing body to review online within in a couple of days. Once the taxing body gives its authorization, the bills are printed and sent.
Some tax bills for the New Castle school district were sent earlier this month, Hardester said.
The exception is Taylor Township, he said, noting that tax file was sent to Infocon yesterday morning.
Hardester said he is reviewing the files for the county’s other 25 municipalities, which make up the seven other school districts in the county, and he expects them to be sent to Infocon within the next few days.
