NEW CASTLE —
About 4,000 Lawrence County property tax bills have not yet been mailed out apparently because of a machinery breakdown.
Lawrence County Treasurer Richard Rapone said he learned that late Tuesday afternoon from the company the county had hired to print and mail the tax statements.
This is the second year D&H Marketing Concepts has handled the county’s statements under a contract.
The county is paying D&H about $9,000 for its services, and another $21,000 for postage costs.
Rapone said he was disappointed to learn of a problem when his office received about 160 phone calls from people who have not yet received their tax bills.
He said many of them are owners of multiple properties.
The statements were to have been mailed out by last Friday, which begins the period for people to pay their taxes at a discount.
Rapone said that after receiving some calls Tuesday, he contacted D&H and was told three or four computer files have not yet been processed because of a machinery breakdown.
He was told company employees were hand-stuffing the bills into the envelopes, he said.
The taxpayers must have 60 days to pay their taxes at discount, Rapone said. Thus, he will now have to go to the commissioners to request an extension of the discount and regular-pay periods.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “We’re paying for a service that was not rendered professionally.”
He said he was particularly disappointed the company owner did not inform him of the machinery problem or that the bills were going out later than planned.
Jim Harding of Edinburg is one of the residents who complained. He went to the commissioners meeting Tuesday, asking why he had received the tax statement for the property where he lives, but not for three other properties he owns.
Commissioner Dan Vogler told him he should direct his questions to the treasurer’s office.
He said he had gone asked there and was told he should be getting his statement within a couple of weeks.
“The tax bills should have been mailed out the first week in February,” Harding said.
Rapone said D&H was selected to mail the tax bills because it is a local company and he knew it had done tax mailings for some of the local municipalities. The work was not put out for bids because it is considered a professional service, he said.
“I wanted to keep the business local,” he explained, “and they did a good job for us last year.”
An attempt Tuesday afternoon to contact Joe DeGruttola, the owner and spokesman for D&H, was unsuccessful.
(Email: dwachter@ncnewsonline.com)
TOP STORIES
Related Photos
Discussion
Breakdown delays tax bill mailings
- TOP STORIES
-
-
New Castle Schools: Finding pinpoints nonpaying out-of-district pupils
New Castle school board members are waiting for the final determinations of a state audit that contained three preliminary findings. Earlier this month the board publicly discussed those findings from the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, and the district administration has responded to two of them to the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General.
-
Photo Gallery, Story: Ceremony remembers fallen officers
Last year there were 12. This year, there are 13. The law enforcement community paused Thursday to remember Lawrence County’s fallen officers in a ceremony outside the New Castle police station.
-
Photo Gallery, Video: Procession, flag-waving crowds salute fallen policeman
Throngs of people crowded along East Washington Street Wednesday, paying final tribute to fallen officer William J. “Jerry” McCarthy IV. A motorcade of about 20 motorcycles and more than 200 police cruisers, all with flashing red and blue lights, created a sensation as it rode slowly toward Shenango Township.
-
Pulaski officer honored for heroic efforts
A Pulaski Township patrolman was named April 2013’s Officer of the Month by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
-
County considering jail privatization
Lawrence County government officials are mulling the idea of privatizing the jail. The matter came to light when a company toured the 268-bed facility after answering a request for proposals that was sent out by the commissioners.
-
New PennDOT website to outline road, bridge work
Pennsylvania senators hit the highway Tuesday at the end of their May session without confronting a bill that would pour billions into road and bridge repairs and construction.
-
Hilcorp might drill in Neshannock Township
Marcellus Shale drilling could be moving into Neshannock Township. A Hilcorp Energy Co. representative said during the Neshannock supervisors meeting Tuesday that the company has leased Millennium Park property off King’s Chapel Road for possible drilling.
-
Suspect in officer’s death jailed in county
Kylee Gwen Barletto was composed walking into court Monday until a television reporter pelted her with questions. Escorted by two state troopers, she was asked, “What do you have to say to the police officer’s family?” “I’m sorry,” she uttered as she was ushered into the court lobby. Then she burst into tears.
-
Abortion doctor found guilty of murdering babies
Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the 72-year-old abortion doctor accused of murdering four babies after they were allegedly born alive during abortion procedures at his Philadelphia clinic, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder Monday.
-
‘A Great Person’: Dan Gallatin remembered as fireman, Mason
The Lawrence County firefighting community was saddened last week by the loss of one of its brothers. Dan Gallatin, 68, a member of the Scott Township Volunteer Fire Department for nearly 40 years, was killed Tuesday when the motorcycle he was riding was hit from behind on Route 956 in Hickory Township.
- More TOP STORIES Headlines
-
