Assistant wage tax collector?

[davidk]

I was not in attendance at the Township reorganization meeting on Tuesday Jan. 3 but I have heard some disturbing news.

It seems the supervisors have appointed an assistant wage tax collector.
The new person will be paid 1.5% of the 4.0% commission Bonnie Sherman, the long time collector, receives.
Also, the files will be moved from Bonnie's home to a room in the township building.

There are several questions that need to be asked concening this whole situation.

Why does the township suddenly need an asssitant wage tax collector? I have never heard any complaints about Bonnie. Quite the contrary.

Did the supervisors get permission from the AHSB to make this appointment? The wage tax collector is a joint appointment between the AHSB and Newton. If there was permission granted, when was the action taken? ( I have emailed Cathy Hardaway, president of the school board, but she has not responded to me as of this writing)

Why are the records being transferred to the township building and where exactly will they be stored and under what security measures?
These are confidential records with serious privacy concerns.
The township building security has been an issue for many years.

[JoeP]

Hmm - cronyism?  Payback time for favors rendered by anonymous assistant (@1.5% income)?  Payback for perhaps not so favored support from Bonnie (take away @1.5% income)?

As usual no reason as to why (or public explanation). Looks like the gang of 3 (plus legal mouthpiece) has picked up where the gang of 5 left off.  It's business as usual.

Maybe I'm having another senior moment.  We have one tax collector who is elected to collect property taxes and one that has been appointed to collect wage taxes (btw - Bonnie has done a fine job).  Why is one elected and one appointed?  Shouldn't they both be elected?  Or maybe there should only be one tax collector?  But now we have 2 tax collectors plus an "assistant" - one elected, 1-1/2 appointed.  Anyone care to sort this all out?

Mrs. Hayden may be next, despite her loyal support for the former and current gang.  Wonder where her tax records are secured?  Hopefully not in the township building.

It was getting quiet on this site - these supervisors sure know how to stir things up.

[davidk]

Joe,
You bring up an excellent point about multiple tax collectors.
I don't have my copy of the code book handy but I do remember seeing in there that there is to be only one tax collector for all revenues in the township.
I'll have to double check and if necessary go to the referees (i.e. PSATS) for a clarification.
There should be only one and they should be elected, not appointed.

[davidk]

I have heard back fom Cathy Hardaway. She spoke with several scholl board officials about the assistant tax collector situation.
Bottom line is the board has no say in who the township appoints to collect it's taxes.
That begs the question as to the bills being sent and processed jointly.
That question is still out there.
Unless the position can be fully justified it should not have been created.
Funny how none of tis was mentioned during last years campaign.

[Sal]

The following is a statement that was made on the Newton Township Supervisors’ website regarding the wage tax collector.

Newton Township Board of Supervisors have reappointed Bonnie Sherman Wage Tax Collector and Donna Rosencrans-DelPrete as Assistant Wage Tax Collector.  The pay will be split by the two so there is no additional cost to the Township, except for the bonding fee for Rosencrans-DelPrete, which is approximately $300 per year.  In return, the Township will have continuity in collections, cross training of the position and off-site storage of data in a secure environment.  The Supervisors were concerned for the lack of continuity if something were to happen to the single collector, they wanted more accountability and they wanted a system of checks and balances, especially with the School District.  The Supervisors believe this is a way to start professionalizing the position.

[davidk]

So we are wasting another $300 per year for a position that is not necessary.
Bonnie has done a fine job over the years. If there is any question as to accountability or "checks and balances" there are already means in place to address any concerns.
What is this nonsense about the School Board? They didn't even know the appointment was made till after the fact. I contacted them and it was the first they knew about it.
As for professionalism, I think Bonnie had that covered just fine.
Of all the things in need of attention in Newton the wage tax collector was not on the radar.
It obviously was'nt during last years campaign, but should be in next years supervisor race!

[JoeP]

We already had two tax collectors - why not cross train them?

Wouldn't the same issues, as put forth by the supervisors, apply to the Property Tax collector Mrs. Hayden (continuity, off-site storage, professionalism, etc.)??

What is secure off-site storage?  As a retired IT professional I would like this defined.  If it is someone else's house and not a secure bank vault or safe deposit box or similar environment it "ain't" secure folks.  And why did we need a 3rd person to secure off-site storage?  This is something that should have been done eon's ago - about when we got rid of the rotary phones.

Checks and balances?  Check and balances is when an independent person, unit, or organization reviews/audits the books and records.  Having two people on the same team offers no more checks and balances than having two foxes guard the hen house instead of one.

Finally, what qualifications does Ms. DelPrete bring to the job and why was she selected over anyone else with similar or better qualifications?

Sounds like the same ole crappola we were getting from the gang of 5.

[davidk]

Joe,
Again you bring up interesting points.
It seems that the new collector is not capable of handling the computer related aspects of the job so we, the taxpayers, are now paying to have her tutored!
Another resident asked me why someone who was not qualified was appointed. I think we know the answer to that question.

As for a secure area, it is my understanding it will be a room in the township building. Not exactly what I call a secure facility. Even if it is a specific room with locks.

We obviously do not need an additional collector, let alone the mounting expenses.
We do need someone to run for supervisor next year.

[JoeP]

David, the more I learn about these supervisors, the more questions I have about their leadership, business and management skills.

If the appointed assistant needs training because she lacks computer skills, then all the supervisors should fire themselves because they know almost zilch on how to effectively communicate with their constituents with the technology available in the 21st century.  And why wasn't the appointee's skills ascertained before she was appointed?  If Ms. DelPrete does not have a computer, who is going to supply her with one?

If computer administration and application skill were needed, there are many residents in the township that have these skills as well as computers.  I myself am a retired Information Technology professional and still volunteer my time in helping family and friends with setting up, repairing, tuning, securing and using their computers.

Mrs. Hayden, our property tax collector, does not use a computer so I would think the gang of three should be applying the same training logic here.

As for offsite storage - yes, having up-to-date copies in two places is better than having them in one, but true offsite storage is a place designed for such storage of important records.  Generally, it is highly resistant to fire, flood, break-in and is environmentally right for record preservation.  The township building is not up to these standards.  For most purposes a large safe deposit box at a local bank is will suffice.

Speaking of security, as far as I know there are only 2 computers in the township building, one in chief Reese's office and one in Fran's office and they share resources.  How secure they and the data they contain are from theft and hacking is unknown, or if periodic backups are performed.  If they are sharing resources and/or connecting to the Internet via Wireless and do not have the proper security protocols in place then others can tap into their systems and even view or steal their data files.

Finally, it is easy to sit on the sidelines and cast stones, but some common sense along with forthright communications and analysis from these supervisors would minimize their vulnerability to criticism.

[Sal]

When they ordered the DSL and wireless router I strongly suggested that they higher a competent person to make sure that the router and computers are secure.  They said that they had a Clark Summit Cop that was going to do that.

It is not just the router; access can be gained by going through the Internet if the individual computers are not secure

I do not know what the qualifications are of the Cop when it comes to computers and network security nor do I know whether it was actually done.

In addition, I doubt that regular updates are performed and if not, the computers are vulnerable to many security issues.

On the other hand, an intrusion does not need to be High Tec.  The computers are not secure so anyone that can get into the building can gain access to them.

I am not talking about people breaking in.  There must be at least 50 keys to the building floating around the Township.

In addition, the more people that use the Township computer, the greater the risk.

The police computer is locked in the police department however it is still at risk.  The computers are networked and they are using Windows OS.  Currently there is not many effective ways to protect the police computer from an intrusion on the Township’s computer while using Windows OS.

There are countless security issues and none of the supervisors have the required expertise to address the issues.  :wow:  

Therefore, the Township building is a bad place to keep sensitive records.