Davanzo puts tax collection agency under scrutiny

He set up a complaint form for constituents after a frustrating experience with Berkheimer.

By NATHAN FERRARO
TribLive

An erroneous personal tax bill has turned into a political crusade of sorts for state Rep. Eric Davanzo, a Smithton Republican.

It started in August 2024, when the representative for the 58th House district received a letter from Berkheimer Tax Innovations stating that he was delinquent on a local tax payment from 2023.

Davanzo mailed a reply to the private company that collects taxes for local municipalities, disputing the allegation.

He said he waited three months for a response from Berkheimer, all while getting additional bills from them, with added late penalties.

“I refused to use my opportunities to reach out with them (as an elected official) because I wanted to go through what my constituents go through,” Davanzo said.

He’s not alone — hundreds of users have posted online about their experiences with Berkheimer and reported receiving incorrect bills or unnecessarily difficult dispute processes.

In response to his experience, Davanzo and his office established a complaint form on his website. Anyone with “past or current” local tax issues is encouraged to contact Davanzo’s office, which will get in touch with Berkheimer.

Davanzo said he has been working with Berkheimer for the past two months to get his constituents’ complaints reviewed.

So far, the complaint form has helped 27 people, according to James Hunt, director of governmental relations at Berkheimer.

Hunt said most of the issues that have surfaced pertain to overdue payments on per capita taxes.

Unfortunately, not all of the issues are that simple.

Rita Turack of South Huntingdon said in an interview with TribLive that she received delinquent notices from Berkheimer this year for her late husband, who passed away in 2016.

She presented a death certificate to the Berkheimer office in Youngwood shortly after his death, believing the issue to be resolved.

But this year, she started receiving the delinquent notices for her late husband again.

Turack reported the issue to Davanzo’s office, who got her in contact with a representative from Berkheimer to fix the problem.

Though Berkheimer says the issue is resolved, she ex-pressed doubt.

“That’s what they said before, too. It’s going to be nine years in November, how did they pull his name out all these years later?” she said.

“We are human. Errors take place on occasion, but we try to keep those at a minimum,” Hunt said regarding the issue, though he said he had not personally heard of it.

Local tax collection

Berkheimer is just one of the companies in Pennsylvania that collects taxes for local municipalities. There are 70 tax districts in the state, many that align with county borders. Berkheimer is the collection agency for 32 of those districts, including the Westmoreland tax collection district.

Berkheimer collects earned income taxes, local services taxes, per capita and occupation taxes and real estate taxes, according to its website.

Since coordinating with Davanzo, Hunt said Berkheimer has updated its phone system, allowing for the handling of an additional 4,000 calls in June.

Hunt said callers can now save their spot in line and request a call back during busy periods.

“We continue to improve upon that track record,” he said.

Pending legislation

Davanzo now has his sights set on stopping proposed legislation in Harrisburg that he claims would make it easier for “tax agencies … (to) extort our citizens.”

House bill 852 would amend a 1965 act requiring tax collecting agencies to use certified or verified mail to inform taxpayers of delinquent notices. If passed, tax agencies would be able to send delinquent notices via first class, or “regular” mail, though they will be required to send a minimum of three firstclass letters.

During an April 22 meeting of the state House Finance Committee, sponsor of the bills Rep. Joe Webster, D-Collegeville, described HB 852 as a “modernization statement.”

“People are being found … delinquent because they can’t respond to the certified letter,” Webster said. “A first-class letter is sufficient and it actually has a better chance of reaching the delinquent taxpayer than a certified letter in today’s world.”

Hunt agreed. “It would be a benefit to the taxpayer. In many cases taxpayers are reluctant to pick up a piece of certified mail,” he said.

House bill 853 would allow tax collecting agencies to charge delinquent taxpayers for the costs of notifying them of their delinquent per capita and occupation taxes, including postage fees.

The partisan bills, backed unanimously by Democrats, are currently in the Republican- controlled Senate after being passed in the House.

Davanzo said removing the certified mail requirement for taxing agencies would remove a level of protection for taxpayers.

“We‘ve got to stand up for our constituents … that’s all I’m trying to do,” he said.