TCC Approves Berkheimer for EIT Collection, Hears Presentations

By Christopher Miller

LOCK HAVEN – The Clinton County Tax Collection Committee (TCC) met Monday evening to open bid proposals, hear presentations, and discuss options to move forward with choosing an organization to collect Earned Income Tax (EIT) for residents who reside within Keystone Central School District.

Representatives from both organizations, Berkheimer Digital Tax Solutions and Keystone Collections Group, gave presentations.

Berkheimer Digital Tax Solutions

Berkheimer was represented by Michelle Marshall, President, Chad Pulaski, Chief Revenue Officer, Rick Stover, Chief Development Executive, and William Leonard, Director of Sales and Marketing.

“Berkheimer will be celebrating 90 years in 2026 and since then, we have shown constant improvement and have worked in a timely manner for our clients,” Chad Pulaski started.

“Our proposal includes a $50,000 set-up fee in year one and then a 1.3% tax collection commission rate for years two through seven. This is a project 5-year savings of $2.78 million based on current versus proposal rates, so roughly $3 million dollars will be staying in your pockets here. We will get a minimum 5% increase in 2026 revenue compared to your prior year, and then another 5% more in 2027 compared to your 2026 year.”

“If we do not meet our objective 5% we will forgo our commission on the taxes brought in for that year,” Chad ended.

Berkheimer also stated that they would collect 0% commission on all delinquent taxes recovered.

As well, Berkheimer would be covering all postage on future tax mailings to residents.

Along with collecting EIT money, Berkheimer also proposed establishing a “local office” somewhere within the county to allow current tax office employees an opportunity to interview for needed positions there, along with establishing a physical presence within the county and effectively creating jobs and retaining local tax dollars.

The proposed office would be for any taxes that Berkheimer would be chosen to collect now and in the future, not just EIT.

Berkheimer President Michelle Marshall then spoke up, explaining the transition to Berkheimer from the current KCSD Tax Office.

“You will have a person assigned to you for the entire journey and transition,” she explained. “We have all forms templates, and any resolutions that need to pass are all drafted and ready for you along the way. We will ensure minimum disruption and will do all the work to guide you and answer all questions.”

William Leonard then countered, saying that any report that would be needed along the way now and into the future can be provided upon request.

Chad Pulaski explained that Berkheimer currently has 32-EIT collection programs across the state with 2.74 million active taxpayers in their systems, 550 employees, received $859 million dollars in electronic payments in 224, and administers nearly $2 billion dollars annually. As well, between April 14 and 15 of this year, over 5,200 phone calls were answered and they helped over 2,000 people in-person and have had zero system outages in the near-century that they have been in business. As well, over 71,000 returns were filed online in 2024.

Speaking on delinquent taxes owed, Berkheimer places their priority on current collections.

“We have delinquent tax programs but we want to get you your money as quickly as we can,” Chad said.

Michelle Marshall countered, adding that taxpayers have different needs and situations in life and need different treatments.

“We will send notices as a matter of communications, but sometimes people need a payment plan, a “nudge” phone call, and when all of that has been exhausted, a wage garnishment or legal follow-up,” she said. “If someone is open to communicating with us, that will go much further. We manage communications based on the situations. We can be aggressive or more pulled-back for our notices, however you would like us to act.”

As for security and compliance, Pulaski mentioned that Berkheimer has all appropriate certifications, follows all DCED state regulations, and treats all private information as if it were their own.

“We have had no data breaches since the company was founded in 1936,” he proudly said.

The question and answer portion of the presentation was brief, but included the question of how soon an office could be established in Clinton County, posed by Committee Member Chris Scaff.

“We could start tomorrow if you wanted us to,” Chad Pulaski said. “We would set up a lease where we would be best suited to meet your community’s needs, begin interviewing former tax office employees who wish to stay on, and we could begin right away or wait a bit.”

Keystone Collections Group

Keystone Collections Group, represented by John Pinkerton, Client Liaison and Jayson Lawson, Esquire, Director Of Business Development, offered two options for EIT collection.

Option A was a 1.49% commission plus actual postage and a 0% commission on delinquent taxes, while Option B offered a 1.25% commission of the school district tax collected plus actual postage, 1.95% commission on all other municipalities plus actual postage, and a 0% commission on delinquent taxes paid.

“We collect EIT for 21 districts and have picked up 10 since Act 32 was implemented in January 2012,” John said. “We picked up Cameron and Lycoming Counties last year, we also collect EIT for Tioga and Clearfield, locally. We have been in business for roughly 40 years, have over 1,000 clients across the commonwealth, and we process over $3 billion dollars in tax annually.”

Jayson then gave a case study on how they were able to assist Cameron and Lycoming Counties with their transition to Keystone Collections Group most recently.

“The two were completely different with Lycoming having most of their records already digital and Cameron County almost entirely on paper,” he started. “The transition was completely different for each of them, but we were able to meet them where they were at and get them set up with our systems. We can give you lists of your top employers in the county, average incomes in a township or municipality, income ranges, we can even take it down to a “by the street” level if you would like that level of granular data. We care and treat all of our clients with dignity and respect.”

Keystone’s transition plan includes reaching out to the top employers in the county asking them if they need assistance and setting up workshops for the transition to their online systems.

“We take care of your businesses because that is where your money comes from,” Jayson said. “We will over-communicate with employers and hold sessions with them on how to file online.”

Keystone Collections Group has already met with many township and borough offices locally in the county, checking in and making introductions.

“We are very “boots on the ground” when it comes to our communications,” John said. 

“We normally collect $10-15 million in delinquent taxes per year, we have a fully-automated wage garnishment team,” he said. “It pushes people to pay and stay current over the next year. Delinquent tax collections are a necessary evil that you need in place.”

Another brief question and answer session took place with committee members asking about the transition time and establishment of a local office.

“We could start the minute the contract is signed,” John said. “We will need master data from your previous collector, but we could begin communicating to your local employers and companies as soon as possible. We do not have the intention of setting up a local office in the community. We have actually closed offices in the past due to inactivity. Our experience with a local office is that people will come in wanting to pay their real estate taxes.

The Committee voted unanimously to name Berkheimer Digital Tax Solutions to collect Earned Income Tax as opposed to the Keystone Central Tax Office of Keystone Central School District.

The proposed seven year contract will be sent to the TCC solicitor for review and will be official upon solicitor approval.

The TCC is scheduled to meet again on Monday, September 29 at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers and Lock Haven City Hall.