Ross Tax Collector Hands Off Responsibilities but Stays in Office

Ross Township Tax Collector and Treasurer Donna M. Carey is no longer involved in collecting taxes for the township, although she will continue collecting a $5,000 annual salary until her term expires in 2013.

“She is the elected tax collector,” Ross Township Manager Wayne Jones said. “She’s just not going to be actually collecting the taxes. Ultimately, the liability is with her.”

Carey's last day in the office was Friday. 

Jones said the $5,000 salary Carey will continue to collect is nominal and is a stipend in line with what other elected township officials receive.

Carey said she will continue to sign checks in her capacity as township treasurer. She decided she no longer wanted to handle the collection duties after the May 8 arrest of her only full-time employee on charges he misused about $30,000 in township funds.

“I just would never trust someone ever again in my employ,” she said.

Pennsylvania state law permits tax collectors to appoint deputies to handle their responsibilities with the approval of the government bodies for which they collect the taxes. Still, William Beardsley Jr., president of the Pennsylvania State Tax Collector's Association, said Carey’s decision was unusual.

Tax collectors have stepped aside before when they no longer could fulfill the functions of their job in cases such as illness or election to a different office. Beardsley said he did not know of any instances where a sitting tax collector who could fulfill the duties chose mid-term to no longer do the job.

“It’s a really odd situation,” he said. "[She] just decided in the middle of the year to say ‘I’m done.’ That whole thing is just strange.”

At Carey’s request, the and earlier this month approved the appointment of Peters-based Jordan Tax Service as their deputy tax collector. The agency collects taxes for more than 85 boroughs, townships and municipalities and 30 school districts.

Jordan will take on all the responsibilities of the Tax Office, including the collection of about $44.3 million in annual property taxes collected for the school district and $3.7 million in property taxes collected for the township.

When she collected taxes, Carey received an annual salary of $47,650 from fees paid by both the school district and township. The $5,000 she now will be paid by Ross Township through 2013 is half the annual amount it has paid her in the past.

Jordan will receive the school district’s annual payment of $37,650 and $5,000 from Ross Township, representing half of its annual payment, until a new tax collector is elected.

Carey, a retired schoolteacher, was first elected to the tax collector position in 1995 to fill out the term of a previous tax collector who moved out of the township. She was re-elected to four-year terms in 1997, 2001, 2005 and again in 2009, when she ran unopposed.

Earlier this year, while investigating a report from Carey about misuse of her personal credit card, discovered around $30,000 in tax collections intended for the was missing. Auditors are still examining township records, and Jones said he expects a report in early July.

But police say they found enough to file criminal charges against Carey’s sole employee, Richard Todd Hassinger, 46, with access device fraud, theft and forgery in two separate complaints stemming from March 8 and 11. Hassinger, who could not be reached, is scheduled for formal arraignment on July 6.

Carey said Hassinger and his parents are her neighbors, and she has known him since he was very young. She said she hired Hassinger around a year and a half ago after learning he needed work. He came on board at first as a part-time employee and then moved to full-time work to help enter property tax data into the computer system.

“He came across as being someone capable,” she said.

Carey said she had been thinking of retiring before Hassinger’s arrest but “this other put the cap on that.” She said she approached Jones immediately after the arrest and proposed having Jordan Tax Service take over the tax collection responsibilities.

Carey declined to provide more detail about Hassinger or the police investigation, saying she expects to be called to testify in court.

Today's transition to Jordan Tax Service occurs a week before this year’s 36,000 tax bills are sent to residents. The total amount paid to Jordan represents $3.45 per bill, according to Jones.

“It was a good time to make the change,” Carey said, adding that the timing should result in little disruption to tax collections. The deadline for early payment is Aug. 31 and full payment is Oct. 31.

Jordan Tax Service began work the first week of June without a contract. While cleaning out her office this week, Carey began directing all tax-related questions to the firm. Phone messages left Wednesday and Thursday with firm representatives were not returned.

Carey said she has plans for time that include cleaning her house.

“It’s time for me to relax,” she said.