Consultant says tax‑lien sale could advance about $3.8 million; board to consider placement on agenda

Jim Geronimo of Municipal Revenue Services told the Wyoming Valley West School District board Wednesday that his company can purchase the district’s delinquent real‑estate tax liens and advance substantial funds to the district as a single‑year sale of accounts receivable.

Geronimo described the typical transaction and estimated proceeds for fiscal 2025–26. He said Elite Revenue (the county delinquent tax collector) would remit about $1.7 million to $1.8 million to the district between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, and that Municipal Revenue Services would provide about $3.8 million by way of a sale. “We would provide about $3,800,000 by way of a sale, so total delinquent revenue for fiscal year 25 to 26 would be somewhere in the neighborhood of about $5,600,000,” Geronimo said.

Geronimo explained the firm buys the district’s accounts receivable (delinquent tax liens) rather than performing collections. He said the sale of the asset produces unrestricted revenue for the district at a time of low cash flow in late winter/early spring. He described the historical pattern in which older delinquencies that later pay reduce the firm’s note and enable larger advances in subsequent years.

On fees, Geronimo said the firm does not deduct an ongoing fee from the revenue stream. Instead, he said, the fee is rolled into the amount borrowed from the bank to finance the purchase (he gave an example: borrow $3,050,000 to fund a $3,000,000 sale and include a $50,000 fee in the financed amount). “We do not take a fee out of the revenue stream…we're not charging the district a fee,” he said.

Geronimo noted assumptions and caveats: the estimates assume delinquent turnover and collections remain similar to recent years and rely on bank acceptance of collateral. He described alternative structures used in other counties (for example, buying year‑2 and older delinquencies) where permissible and noted the district’s past participation: the company had purchased the district’s delinquent liens from 2005 until 2023, but not last year.

Board members asked about which districts the firm serves in Luzerne County, whether the firm had previously worked with this district, and how multiple years of sitting out would affect windfalls. Geronimo said some clients intentionally skip a year to create a larger accounts‑receivable pool and that two years is roughly the limit before diminishing returns. The meeting ended with the board chair saying he would speak with fellow board members about placing the item on a future agenda for formal consideration.