Missing tax records plague Hempfield

When former Hempfield Township tax collector Susan Creighton left office in January after voters passed on giving her a fifth term, she left nothing behind, the new tax collector says.

Jim Regola, who bested Creighton in last year's Democratic primary and went on to win in the fall general election, said he was handed the keys to an empty office on St. Clair Way.

"The place was vacant," Regola said. "There was nothing, not even a scrap of paper."

Regola purchased new furniture and followed through on a campaign promise to computerize the office. But the office is not yet running as efficiently as he would like because he does not have access to tax receipts from prior years.

State law requires such records be turned over as soon as a new tax collector takes office, said Megan Galko, spokeswoman with the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

Galko said the law applies to records for the two years before the new tax collector takes office. She said tax collectors are required to maintain those back records for at least two years.

Regola said the records were not in the office when he took over. Not having them, he said, hinders his ability to answer taxpayers' questions regarding payments they made in the past.

"When I want to know if someone paid their taxes prior to 2002, I have to go to the courthouse and see if they are delinquent," Regola said. "If they aren't delinquent, I assume they paid."

He said the inconvenience has made it more difficult for some senior citizens to file for rent and property-tax rebates offered through state programs. Seniors who did not obtain a receipt at the time they paid their taxes, or who lost their receipts, sometimes must delay filing their rebate paperwork for at least a day so Regola can check the records on file at the county courthouse in Greensburg.

But courthouse records don't indicate how much the taxpayer paid, or when the payment was made, Regola said.

Unless the taxpayer produces a canceled check showing the amount paid, Regola can verify only that the taxes were paid at the discount rate — the lowest tax rate, paid by those who ante up early. Seniors who waited and paid their taxes at full face value may be cheated of some of their rebate, he said.

"What hurts them is they don't know how much they paid, so I have to verify at discount when they may have paid face," Regola said. "There have been a lot of people who have been upset, and are surprised we don't have the records."

The absent records also have delayed some residents' loan transactions. Regola said most lenders won't accept canceled checks as proof of tax payments, so homeowners who want to obtain or refinance a mortgage must instead provide copies of receipts.

Once again, said Regola, homeowners who didn't obtain receipts at the time they paid their taxes must wait until he checks the records at the courthouse. Only then will the lender close on the loan. Regola said the transactions usually go through once he verifies payment.

"Once I explain to the lender that nothing is owed, it works," Regola said. "But it's probably delayed a few closings."

Regola said he has had little contact with Creighton since he took office. Her home phone number is not published. He said he has never asked for the records directly, but he did ask her in November if she "needed to give me anything, and she said no."

Creighton could not be reached for comment.

Galko said it is the township's responsibility to try to obtain the records.

Supervisor Doug Weimer said the board recently directed its solicitor, Les Mlakar, "to do whatever was necessary, if the records were not made available, to obtain them."

Weimer said legal action may be taken, but as of Wednesday nothing had been filed with the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas. The courthouse was closed Thursday for Independence Day.

Creighton served as Hempfield's tax collector for 16 years, following in the footsteps of her father. John Creighton was tax collector from 1970 until an illness left him unable to work. His wife, Violet, was appointed to finish out his term, and his daughter later was elected to the post.

Voters ousted Susan Creighton after she was charged with misappropriating $21,989 in tax money and diverting the funds to a private account. She lost her bid for re-election, despite paying back the money and entering the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for first-time, nonviolent offenders.