Summit Hill's present tax collector reportedly isn't going to seek re-election, but whoever gets the position will be paid a smaller commission.

On Monday, Summit Hill Borough Council adopted an ordinance reducing the rate of pay for collecting taxes to 3 percent effective Jan. 1, 2018.The present tax collector receives 4 percent commission for regular tax collections and 5 percent commission for delinquents, according to dialogue at the December council meeting.Earlier this month, Lansford Borough Council also voted to reduce the commission for the tax collector from 4 percent to 3 percent.At the Summit Hill meeting, Secretary-Treasurer Kira Steber said the action had to be taken by February to make it effective in 2018.The action in Summit Hill passed unanimously, with council members Bill Chapman and William O'Gurek absent.In other business:• Ronald Yuricheck was promoted from borough worker to workforce leader effective Dec. 14, 2016. His rate of pay is increased from $22.41 per hour to $23.38 per hour with the new position.He succeeds William Frantz, who has apparently retired from the borough workforce. Last month, the council was notified Frantz was retiring but declined to act on the matter because it hadn't received anything from Frantz in writing.Nobody was named to replace Yuricheck on the workforce.• The council agreed to exonerate about 90 property owners from annual trash collection fees. The exonerations are permitted for dwellings that are not inhabited.The action passed by a 3-1 vote. In favor were council President Mike Kokinda, John O'Gurek and Gregory Kosciolek. Opposed was David Wargo. Council member Karen Ruzicka voted in favor of the list, but abstained from voting on her own property exemption.A resident asked how much money was lost to the borough because of the exemptions.Wargo said since trash collection rates are $210 per year, the total comes to $18,900.• Chief of Police Joseph Fittos Jr. said his department answered 5,199 complaints during 2016, "an all-time high for us."During December, Fittos said the department serviced 365 complaints, issued seven traffic citations, filed one nontraffic citation, filed two criminal complaints at District Court and gave 20 warnings. Six traffic crashes were investigated during the month.