Carbon County residents who are delinquent on their real estate taxes will soon be able to pay them by credit card.

During the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, the board voted to approve a payment processing service agreement with Value Payment Systems LLC for credit card online and telephone payments through the Infocon software in the county tax claim bureau.Renee Roberts, director of the tax claim bureau, explained that this will benefit the taxpayers because it will allow them to make a payment online through a secure site on the Carbon County website.Currently, residents who are delinquent on their taxes must pay in person at the tax claim bureau either in cash or by money order. The problem with that, Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, said this was hard for residents to get to the bureau during open office hours.Commissioner William O'Gurek added that the county also experienced problems with counterfeit bills and was bogged down by reconciling cash and receipts in the past. This will now hopefully streamline the process.O'Gurek asked about a 2.75 percent fee Value Payment Systems collects for its services.Roberts explained that the fee is handled between the taxpayer and the company and that the county will not be responsible for it.During an online or telephone payment, Roberts noted that Value Payment Systems will impose the fee, which will be required to be paid via credit card by the taxpayer at the time of the transaction.In other business, O'Gurek announced that the "S-curve" project along Route 54 in Nesquehoning has begun.He credited former state Rep. Keith McCall, who worked to secure funding, and the late John "Sonny" Kovatch, who had originally offered to donate land to eliminate the curve and build a Hauto bypass, for bringing this project to fruition.McCall, when in office, also helped get the project off the ground and onto the state Transportation Plan's 12-year plan for transportation projects by becoming the chairman of the state transportation commission.The curve, which is located just past the Schuylkill/Carbon county lines has been the site of numerous fatal accidents over the years. It will now be straightened out at a cost of $3.6 million. The project is expected to be completed by November."Hopefully it will at some point and time, eliminate the injuries and deaths that had occurred out there," O'Gurek said. "It will also be an improvement in the highway system that we otherwise would have not received if we didn't have someone there to fight for us."Nothstein also provided an update on the possible consolidation of the Carbon/Monroe Farming Service Agency.He said that the recommendations have been passed to the federal government and stressed that residents should contact federal legislators like U.S. Sens. Robert Casey and Pat Toomey; as well as Congressman Lou Barletta to voice their disapproval of the closures.