Board to consider raising tax-collector rates, paying collectors for installment processing

District business staff told the Mifflin County School District board that current tax-collector compensation has not been changed since a 2021 adjustment and that the board must set compensation by statute in election years.

The existing district rates are $2.00 per real-estate tax bill and $1.50 per per-capita bill, the presentation said. Staff proposed two possible changes: (1) pay collectors the same rate for installment payments as for single payments, and (2) raise the per-capita rate by 50 cents to equal the $2.00 real-estate rate.

Why it matters: Tax-collector compensation is a recurring district expense that, while small per bill, adds up across the entire tax base. The district's business officer said the total current expense for collector compensation runs about $70,000 a year.

Staff provided estimated fiscal impacts for the current tax year. There were 869 installment bills collected this year; paying collectors $2.00 for those installment collections would have increased district expense by about $1,738, with payroll taxes adding roughly $880. Raising the per-capita rate by 50 cents (applied to the district's roughly 27,000 per-capita bills) would cost less than $15,000 at full collection; combined, staff estimated the two changes would cost a little under $17,000 in the maximum case.

The business officer said many neighboring districts already pay collectors the same rate for installment bills and that several districts pay a single, uniform rate for all bill types. Trustees discussed practical issues — such as whether the district would be required to apply the change uniformly to all collectors — and were told the district has not seen tiered pay among its collectors in practice.

Board action and next step: Business staff said they will place two specific options on the next meeting's voting agenda so trustees can choose one: (A) pay collectors for installments and raise per-capita to $2.00; (B) pay collectors for installments only; (C) keep current rates. "I guess I'll put this on the voting meeting, a recommendation to increase the the tax collectors pay, and then we'll just see if they get and I'll just put it on the agenda," the business officer said. The board did not take a vote at this meeting and agreed to consider the matter at the next public meeting so the statutory February 15 deadline can be met.

Ending: The board scheduled the compensation options for formal consideration at the next meeting; no final decision was recorded at this meeting.