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New court date for McGuffey tax collectors’ pay cut case

2 min read
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The case of four McGuffey tax collectors who are fighting the school district’s resolution to slash their pay by requesting a preliminary injunction in Washington County Court will have to fight another day.

Attorneys for both sides were expecting a court order from Judge Valarie Costanzo that set a new court date for Sept. 28.

Michael Savona, who represents the four tax collectors who filed the complaint, said the delay will give the parties a chance to prepare for a full trial on the merits of the case and a determination on whether the resolution, which is to take effect in January 2018, was reasonable.

The board decided in January to change the way the district’s eight collectors will be compensated. McGuffey plans to switch from paying a commission on taxes collected to paying $1.50 for each tax statement mailed. The district hopes to save about $100,000 a year.

Taking the matter to court in hopes of having the previous payment system restored were Eric Donnelly of Buffalo Township, Carol Schilinski of South Franklin Township, Marissa King of Morris Township and Melinda Duncan of West Finley Township.

King is an appointee, and Schilinski serves in an appointed capacity for tiny Green Hills Borough. The other tax collectors are elected. Nine municipalities comprise the school district, and a court decision on the action brought by the four tax collectors also would affect tax collectors from East Finley, Claysville, Donegal and Blaine who are not named in the suit.

The tax collectors assert they perform many other duties besides collecting taxes and that they will have a “drastic and unreasonable decrease” if the commission-based system is changed. They pegged their individual pay cuts at between 87 and 95 percent and called the district’s resolution setting a wage “grossly substandard.”

Documents filed with the court in April noted state Supreme Court cases that struck down resolutions from the Penn Ridge and Central Bucks County school districts that would have cut their tax collectors’ pay by 69 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

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