Feb 18, 2013 2 min read

East Washington Borough Council will begin holding two meetings a month starting in March.

Council voted to return to two monthly meetings Monday night, at 6 p.m. the first and third Mondays each month.

Tax collection and the levying of a new tax ordinance took up much of the regular meeting.

Sharon L. Adams was hired as the new real estate tax collector. She will fill out the remaining term of Milt Schuler, who submitted his resignation as the borough’s real estate tax collector. Councilman Bill Adams, who is married to Sharon Adams, abstained from voting.

Council vice president Jeff Bull said Washington School District has requested that the borough have its own mail and telephone system for the real estate tax collector. In addition, they asked Mrs. Adams to have hours at the borough office should a resident need to speak with her. They do not want payments made in a private home.

Council also voted to name Portnoff Law Associates as its delinquent real estate tax collector. The agency will seek to collect delinquent taxes going back five years.

It also was discussed having Portnoff collect garbage bills. An estimated $15,000 in unpaid trash removal fees are due to the borough.

It was decided to begin collecting the $5 per capita tax instead of remitting that amount to Washington School District.

Currently, the school district is collecting the entire $10 per capita tax, but now the borough will take half of that amount with the remaining $5 going to the school district. The borough will receive about $7,500 a year by collecting half of the tax.

The per capita tax ordinance will be advertised.

Council agreed to hire Ben Thorne as a new part-time police officer to replace another officer who has resigned.

A number of items were tabled to next month’s meeting, including action on a new personnel policy manual, the 2013 fee schedule and identifying which holidays borough employees should be paid for.