Mayor Chris Doherty said Wednesday the city will no longer pay for the Single Tax Office to have its own solicitor because state law dictates that the city solicitor's office is to provide legal representation to the tax office.
Last week, city Tax Collector Bill Courtright said he intends to hire a solicitor for the Single Tax Office to fill a vacancy in that position because that has been the practice of himself and prior tax collectors over many years despite the law's mandates.
Mr. Courtright had said he intends to follow the past practice and continue to use a separate solicitor instead of the city solicitor. It was unclear if Mr. Courtright has since hired a new solicitor and efforts to reach him Wednesday were unsuccessful.
The city's budget this year contains money to fund half of the salary of a part-time Single Tax Office solicitor, while the Scranton School District funds the other half of the salary. But Mr. Doherty said the city will no longer pay for the salary of a separate tax-office solicitor.
"This has to stop," Mr. Doherty said of the longstanding practice of tax collectors hiring their own solicitors. "I'm not paying for it. They could use our solicitor."
The city's Law Department is headed by city solicitor Paul Kelly, who was a Single Tax Office solicitor for many years in the 1990s and 2000s.
Efforts to reach schools Superintendent William King were unsuccessful.
The issue also was raised in a lawsuit filed Monday by city resident Joseph Pilchesky against Mr. Courtright, the city, school district and county. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to force Mr. Courtright to abide by law and not hire a separate solicitor for the tax office, which collects taxes for the city, county and school district, as well as to stop commingling various tax funds into one account.
Commingling of tax funds also is contrary to law but has been another long-standing practice of tax collectors who have overseen the Single Tax Office.
Mr. Courtright, who has been tax collector since 2010, is running for a Democratic nomination for Scranton mayor in the May 21 primary against Joseph Cardamone, Lee Morgan and Elizabeth Randol.
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