Williamsport treasurer calls for state action as tax agencies work to battle budget increases
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The City of Williamsport treasurer has asked for help from Harrisburg lawmakers as the local service tax of $52-a-year per employee working in the city has not changed for 18 years.
While the local service tax (LST) has been capped for 18 years, city costs rise each year.
"Since 2021, the city budget has risen by about $4 million," said Kevin Mackey, city treasurer and tax collector. "This is about $1 million a year and a percentage increase of 4%," he recently told council.
"With an inflation rate of 51%, since about 2007, we can't continue to operate off of a hard cap set by Harrisburg 18 years ago," Mackey said.
He warned council the city can't afford another year of this tax stagnation. He also noted how the assessment has nothing to do with how much an individual earns.
Mackey said he has spoken with state Rep. Jamie Flick, R-South Williamsport, representing the 83rd House district to see if there is interest in proposing an increase in the LST statewide.
Mackey recently informed council how last year was one when the treasurer/tax collector office collected more than what it originally thought it would in the budget.
The office recorded $851,000 of unbudgeted revenue between all of the taxes, he said.
The numbers quoted were from the 2024 city budget approved in 2023 versus the 2024 collections reported by the office and finalized this month.
"These are different from the amounts applied by the numbers discussed at the recent budget meeting," Mackey said.
As examples, realty transfer tax collected by the Register and Recorder is above-budgeted by $99,666, he said. Delinquent taxes collected by the Tax Claim Bureau are above-budgeted by $311,307. Earned income taxes, formerly collected by the Municipal School Earned Income Office, is above-budgeted by $173,250. The 2025 collector for this tax will be Keystone Collections.
City real estate taxes collected by the city treasurer office is above-budgeted by $154,353. Local Service taxes collected by the city treasurer office is above-budgeted by $11,209. Mercantile and business privilege taxes collected by the city treasurer office are above by $105,254.