TOWN OF CAMILLUS -- The Town of Camillus will hold a public vote to decide on abolishing the town tax receiver office, just a few weeks after the former receiver passed away.
According to Onondaga County Comptroller Robert Antonacci, on Wednesday the Camillus Town Board voted to hold a public hearing and referendum on the elimination of the office of tax receiver. In a statement to the media, Antonacci said that the town utilized the county’s new consolidation, shared services, and integration task force (CSI) to study the effects of eliminating the position, and discovered that other offices such as the town clerk could absorb the duties of the tax receiver staff and save taxpayers more than $137,000 per year.
“The Town of Camillus, under the leadership of Supervisor MaryAnn Coogan and the Town Board was the first municipality to contact the CSI Tax Force for assistance in evaluating consolidation and modernization opportunities” said Antonacci. “The CSI Tax Force assists municipalities in understanding and implementing consolidation, shared services and integration (CSI) ideas and opportunities at no cost to the municipalities.”
According to the CSI report, the town’s tax receiver office is comprised of one full-time tax receiver, one full-time clerk, and two part-time seasonal clerks. The department sends out and collects payments on more than 10,000 tax bills per year, and maintains addresses for more than 10,000 parcels of land in the town.
Former tax receiver Pat Fletcher passed away on May 21. According to the town, she had held the job since 1995.
“She will be missed, she was a tremendous public servant” said Antonacci and Coogan in a joint statement.
