Palmerton’s borough council referred a letter regarding a compensation increase for the tax collector to their finance committee at Thursday’s meeting.

In an effort to procure the increase for the 2018 season, Palmerton’s tax collector Lisa M. Nemeth reached out to the council with a letter dated Nov. 4, 2016.“According to my research, Palmerton Borough has not given an increase in salary to the Palmerton Borough tax collector in the last 50 years or so,” Nemeth said.The tax collector in Palmerton has held a salary based on 1 percent of the taxes collected during the normal period, and 5 percent of the those collected during the penalty period. Nemeth said that out of the $764,356.60 collected in 2015, her compensation was $8,540.Out-of-pocket expenses related the job tend to cut down an already slim salary.The software that the Palmerton collector uses for daily and monthly tax collection reports costs $650 per year, and is set to increase to $750 next year. Nemeth said that several tax collectors in Carbon County are reimbursed for such an expense, though the Palmerton tax collector is not.Membership for the Pennsylvania State Tax Collectors Association requires a nonreimbursed annual fee, in addition to the costs associated with attending the association’s yearly convention. New regulations have been set to be a PA Qualified Municipal Tax Collector, including yearly continuing education courses.While assessment values and millage rates have increased over the years, Nemeth pointed out that the tax collector’s 1 percent compensation has remained the same, and is not reflective of the office’s modern duties.Within the letter, Nemeth listed the salary rates of other Carbon County tax collectors for reference. Lehighton’s collector takes in 2.5 percent of collected taxes, Jim Thorpe’s receives a flat fee of $12,800, Towamensing gets 5 percent of real estate taxes and 3 percent of per capita taxes, and Lansford gets 4 percent during the discount period and 5 percent during the normal and penalty periods.“I feel that a 2.5 percent flat rate would only be fair according to the other localities’ pay rates,” Nemeth said in her letter.Borough manager Rodger P. Danielson said that the tax collector could see a salary bump with the soon-to-be-passed millage increase, though they will consider the potential for an increase.“A lot of that depends on the millage,” Danielson said of the collector’s salary. “With this proposed increase, they’ll almost get a 20 percent increase based on that alone. The finance committee will take a look at it and come back with a recommendation for the council.”