SMETHPORT – The McKean County Commissioners on Monday increased
the income level for county residents to be exempt from paying the
annual per capita tax.

Officials said the change – from $5,000 per person to $10,000
per person – will bring the county into line with state law, noting
some municipal tax collectors have apparently been granting
exemptions due to age, namely to residents who are 75 years old or
older.

The measure was unanimously approved.

Under the newly adopted resolution, any county resident 18 years
old or older whose total income is less than $10,000 per year – the
highest amount allowed under the county code – will be exempt from
paying the county’s per capita tax, effective immediately.

Those individuals will have to fill out an affidavit from their
local tax collector to be eligible for the exemption – residents
who have already paid the tax for this year can apply to get a
refund.

“You can’t exempt somebody from paying the tax because of their
age,” Commissioner John Egbert said. “That is against the law.”

Egbert said some county officials, including himself, have been
receiving numerous phone calls over the past few days from angry
residents who are receiving their tax bill only to realize they are
slated to pay the $5 per capita tax levied by the county.

The per capita tax set by some school districts and
municipalities – which varies depending on where a person lives –
did not change with the commissioners’ action.

“Unfortunately, in the past, certain tax collectors, or school
districts, or board of commissioners had taken it upon themselves
to exempt certain persons on the basis of age,” Commissioner
Chairman Clifford Lane read from a prepared statement during a
special meeting of the board. “Although they may have been well
intended, there is no authorization to do that.”

County officials said the $5,000 income threshold had been in
effect since the 1980s, at least; the county brings in about
$120,000 annually from the tax, of which it costs about $60,000 to
process the bills.

“We net about half the collected tax,” Egbert said.

According to Chief Assessor Angie Tennies, the per capita
situation became an issue with tax collectors a couple of years
ago, with some tax collectors not mailing out the per capita tax
bills.

“Some tax collectors in prior years said they didn’t mail a bill
for somebody over a particular age, but nothing was ever legally
documented,” Tennies said before the meeting. “They didn’t mail out
the county’s portion of the bill.”

Tennies said in 2005 she mailed out a letter to the
municipalities and school districts regarding establishing some
form of uniformity for the tax, however, that has yet to occur.
Suggestions have also been made to eliminate the tax
altogether.

“We were hoping to get everybody on the same sheet of music,”
Tennies said, adding the municipalities and school districts have
passed separate ordinances regarding the tax. As it stands,
according to figures supplied by Tennies, at least eight
municipalities currently don’t have a per capita tax in place.

Tennies said the county won’t be looking to collect any back per
capita taxes that were not paid before this year.

“We had some tax collectors that sat on the (county per capita)
bills,” Tennies said, adding it’s likely some residents haven’t
paid a county per capita tax in 15 or 20 years, depending on where
they live.

Treasurer Nancy Evans, who attended Monday’s meeting, said she
was concerned on how the refund process might work, noting she has
already processed more than 70 tax bills from the City of Bradford
alone. In addition to her duties as treasurer, Evans serves as the
tax collector for the city.

“For anybody that’s paid their taxes already, it’s their
responsibility to contact the tax collector to get an affidavit for
the exemption,” Tennies said, noting the refund will ultimately be
issued by the county’s assessment office.

An individual must file an affidavit with their local tax
collector each year to be eligible for the exemption. The tax
collectors will have the forms available to file for an
exemption.

In regards to married couples, officials said each spouse will
be responsible for paying the tax if they individually make over
$10,000. For example, if one spouse earns $80,000, he would pay the
tax; if the other spouse earns $1,000, he or she won’t have to pay
it.

In other news, the commissioners unanimously approved modifying
the county’s 2004 Community Development Block Grant program
allocation of $34,155 to the Sergeant Township/Clermont Volunteer
Fire Department to purchase high band radio equipment.

That project was completed and left behind an unexpended balance
of $16,930.84; those funds can be used for another activity. On
Monday, the commissioners voted to allocate that amount to the
Smethport Nelson Street Pedestrian Bridge Project, which comes at a
price tag of $86,227.

With the added allocation, Smethport Borough will only be
responsible for a small additional contribution for the
project.