When their longtime tax collector submitted his retirement last month, Lansford Borough officials thought they had at least until March to vet candidates to replace him.

But with tax bills going out next month - and the tax collector's name and address on them - the board was forced to hold a special meeting Friday to make their decision."They're going to start printing the bills on the 10th. That's why we need to appoint now," council president Martin Ditsky said.The board ultimately voted to appoint Terrance McCall to serve out the term of retiring tax collector Daniel Wynn. Wynn's four-year term expires in 2017.The first item of business was to officially accept Wynn's retirement.He submitted a letter last month, announcing the end of his 32-year career as tax collector, but the board put off voting on the decision to give them more time to appoint his replacement. That was before they knew of the deadline to get out the tax bills.The vote to approve McCall was 4-3, and came after the board deadlocked on another candidate.Joe Butrie, Rose Mary Cannon, Colin Jones and Jared Soto voted in favor of McCall. Ditsky, John Turcmanovich and Matthew Walsh voted against.Before the vote on McCall, Walsh nominated Donna Valent.Walsh said Valent had gone above and beyond what the board had asked in submitting a résumé, as well as letters of recommendation."If you're going to apply for something, if you go above and beyond, that shows character right there," Walsh said.The first time the board voted on Valent's nomination, Ditsky, Soto and Walsh voted in favor, while Cannon and Jones voted against. Turcmanovich and Butrie both abstained.Solicitor Michael Greek then pointed out that they could only abstain if there was a conflict of interest, prompting Butrie to change his vote to "no."That left a 3-3 tie.Normally, in the case of a tie, the mayor would have 10 days to cast the deciding vote, but James Romankow was not in attendance, so the board was free to nominate other candidates.