Tax Collector's Death Means Post Must be Filled

Roy Reifsnyder.

The passing of Roy Reifsnyder last week has left a hole not only in the hearts of many Pottstownians, but also in the role of tax collector.

Perhaps best known to thousands of young ballplayers and their parents, myself included, for his 38 years of volunteering with the Pottstown Little League, Reifsnyder also spent eight years as a chaperone for the Pottstown High School marching band, as well as having a hand in planning Pottstown's signature July 4th parade every year.

And in January of 2016, Reifsnyder was appointed as Pottstown's tax collector after the person who won the election could not secure the bond necessary to fill the post.

With 37 years experience in accounting and taxes, Reifsnyder had no difficulty getting bonded.

He died May 6 at Pottstown Hospital at the age of 71.

And borough council only has 30 days to replace him, according to the borough code, Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. said during Monday's council meeting.

The borough is looking for applicants for the post. To be appointed, one must have lived in Pottstown for at least a year, and be able to obtain a surety bond.

Borough Manager Justin Keller said changes made several years ago mean the job does not require much work, given that the borough staff performs most of the functions, and the salary is "a small amount."

"The person has to perform some perfunctory duties, that do not involve collecting the actual taxes," said Keller. "It's not a huge amount of responsibility." But because this is Pennsylvania, the post is required by law. 

And the borough must a person by its June 3 meeting to be in compliance, said Garner. If no one is appointed, the law passes the responsibility on to the borough's "vacancy board," which is basically borough council plus one additional "vacancy board" member, to appoint someone.

Failing that, the post can be filled by someone petitioning the Court of Common Pleas to be appointed.

Whomever fills the post will remain through 2021, the year that the choice is once again up to the voters.

"The most important thing is to find someone who is interested and wants to do it," said Garner.

Those interested should send a letter or email to Keller at borough hall. Council may choose to publicly interview applicants at the June 3 meeting.

There Can Be Only One (Tax Collector That Is)

Diane DeLong

Four folks put their hat in the ring to be the township's tax collector for two years.

But, as the headline (and the Highlander series) tells us: There Can Be Only One!

And the one is Realtor Diane DeLong, who was chose by a 3-2 vote over former Township Commissioners Renee Spaide, Robert Binelli and David Mull.

Commissioners France Krazalkovich, John Bealer and Herb Miller supported DeLong while Commissioners Chairman Elwood Taylor and Commissioner Martin Schreiber, backed Spaide.

The other two candidates did not receive any votes.

Both Spaide and DeLong arrived with supporters in tow, but although Spaide had more at the meeting, DeLong had more where it counts, up at the board table.

When that was over, the board handle a number of routine matters, but in a very lengthy fashion.

They included their continuing efforts to deal with the damage being done by the invasive emerald ash borer, an update on activities at the Althouse Arboretum as well as a review of how the township's finances are structured.

You can find it all here in the fascinating Tweets from the meeting:

A New Era Begins for Pottstown Borough Council

Photos by Evan Brandt

Pottstown Mayor Sharon Thomas, a Republican, poses for a

"bi-partisan photo" with newly selected Borough 

Council President 

Dan Weand, a Democrat.

So a rumored floor fight between Third Ward Councilwoman Sheryl Miller and Fifth Ward Councilman Dan Weand for the presidency of Borough Council failed to materialize Monday night.

Rather, a rather sedate re-organizational meeting put Weand, now in his sixth year in office, into the top spot and Miller, still in her first term, as Vice President.

Newly sworn-in Sixth Ward Councilwoman Rita Paez cast the only vote against Weand and she tried to enlist First Ward Councilman Ryan Procsal to be council president.

He declined, saying he had every intention of nominating and voting for Weand, which he did.

Otherwise it was pretty much business as usual as re-organizational meetings go.

New Fourth Ward Councilman Dennis Arms, right, is welcomed to 

borough council by Mayor Thomas and new Pottstown School Board

member Emanuel Wilkerson, who was Arms' student not too long ago.

Chuck Garner remains borough solicitor, although how he plans to attend meetings on the same night as those in New Hanover Township, where he was sworn in as an elected supervisor Monday night, remains an unanswered question.

There was one fly in the ointment however,

Borough Manager Mark Flanders said he received a letter of resignation from Coleen Belovich, who had been elected in November as Pottstown's new tax collector.

He did not say why she resigned, but it is the second time that has happened in Pottstown. The first time both in Pottstown and in Upper Pottsgrove, was due to new legal requirements to be a tax collector.

New elected Sixth Ward Councilwoman Rita Paez, center, 

takes the oath of office Monday.

By the way, Holly Gauger, the women voters chose to be Upper Pottsgrove's new tax collector, also announced on Township Commissioner Martin Schreiber's Facebook page, that she too would not be able to fill the office due to "reasoning outside of my control."

Not sure what that means, but we'll let you know when we do.

We'll also let you know what happened at the organizational meetings for Lower Pottsgrove, Douglass (Mont.) and New Hanover, all of which also happened last night (as they did in North Coventry and East Coventry as well.)

In the meantime, here are the Tweets from Monday night's council meeting.