Lehighton Area School District's board of directors is urging anyone who has issues with their real estate tax bills to contact their local tax collector.

Attorney William Schwab said the district has been receiving complaints stemming from various concerns over the bills.One issue, Schwab said, deals with people who have the same address getting their bills stuffed in the same envelope, leading to privacy concerns.Mahoning Township Tax Collector Pauline Homm said Parryville borough, and East Penn and Mahoning townships do send the bills out in that fashion."We do it that way to save the school district money," Homm said in an email last week. "I didn't really have any complaints about it but I do know Mary Strohl in Lehighton is getting a lot of complaints."Other tax bills have been sent out without someone's first name, Schwab said. "Many people don't realize the district doesn't control the printing or stuffing of the tax bills," Schwab said. "Even the data doesn't come from the district. All of the data for all of the tax bills comes from the county."Elected municipal tax collectors get the money from taxpayers and turn those funds over to the district.Despite the issues, Schwab said no mix-up precludes a property owner from paying their taxes."If you get an incorrect tax bill or even if you don't get one at all, Pennsylvania law does not excuse you from paying," he said.Homm also encouraged anyone having issues to contact their local tax collector."If there are problems with bills not being properly addressed, we should be told about it so we can contact the printing company and tell them," she said."We do not send the bills out. They are sent out by the printing company after being printed."