SMETHPORT – Some McKean County residents are one step closer to
receiving an exemption from the county’s per capita tax.
On Tuesday, the county commissioners announced the required form
needed to apply for an exemption from paying the $5 tax will be
forwarded to the municipal tax collectors by the end of the
week.
County officials also said the form has been revised to
eliminate a requirement to have the document notarized.
“The notary charge would be $5, so there wouldn’t be a savings
at all if that were still required,” County Administrator Richard
Casey said.
Earlier this month, the commissioners increased the income level
for county residents to be exempt from paying the tax, which is
levied annually. Officials said the change – from $5,000 per person
to $10,000 per person – will bring the county in line with state
law. Some tax collectors had apparently been granting exemptions
due to age, namely to residents who are 75 years old or older.
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.
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.
Later Tuesday night, Commissioner John Egbert said the county
hasn’t had “a large amount of people” requesting an exemption.
In other news, the commissioners entered into an agreement with
Alcohol & Drug Abuse Services Inc. of Port Allegany to provide
alcohol and drug abuse counseling services to inmates at the county
prison.
The services will support the prison mission of providing
treatment to those inmates in need of professional
intervention.
“It’s a new service for the prison,” Egbert said.
The county has been implementing several new programs at the
prison in the hopes of providing the inmates with a means of
rehabilitating themselves.
The commissioners also approved several resolutions, including
entering into a letter of agreement with the Office of Mental
Health and Substance Abuse Services and Warren State Hospital.
Officials said the agreement will facilitate the county’s
management of the Community/Hospital Integration Project Program
(CHIPP).
According to Egbert, the resolution will allow the county to
receive funding for the program from the state Department of Public
Welfare after flowing through Warren State Hospital.
Previously, the funding for CHIPP – which serves individuals
with serious and persistent mental illness – was allocated to the
county through the Cameron Elk McKean Mental Health-Mental
Retardation joinder, which the county has since extricated itself
from.
Officials said the county’s CHIPP will be managed by the
Department of Human Services.
Meanwhile, the commissioners approved the annual distribution of
$125,000 in liquid fuel money to the county’s municipalities.
In the Tuna Valley, the City of Bradford will receive $16,851;
Bradford Township, $10,907; Foster Township, $11,098; Corydon
Township, $1,328; Lewis Run Borough, $1,192; and Lafayette
Township, $5,462.
The funding is based on population and mileage figures,
officials said.
The commissioners also announced the next meeting date has been
changed from March 27 to March 20.
