The amount of delinquent taxes being returned back to Warren County has decreased over the past decade – though they are roughly the same for the past two years.

Brett Baillie, county finance director, discussed tax receipts recently with Warren County Commissioners. Baillie said he has been keeping track of tax collections for roughly 12 years.

“If you look back at 2013 we were getting about 11% being returned as delinquent,” Baillie said. “If you look at the current we’re getting about 8.78% being returned. I kind of attribute that to the things that are being done in the office – mailings the online payment system and getting that out there. Just little tweaks like that I think go a long way getting those returns down.”

Clarendon Township returned the most delinquent taxes back to the county at 21%, Baillie said, while he noted Youngsville Borough saw no change over the past two years, returning 8.92% of tax bills as delinquent each year. And, he noted, Glade Township is seeing more delinquent taxes this year, increasing from 5.86% to 8.92%.

Overall, the county is in roughly the same shape this year as it was last year for delinquent tax notices.

“This year, basically, it’s the same amount of dollars, the same amount of bills,” Baillie said. “I thought that was very interesting. Yea, 8.78%, I don’t think it’s too shabby compared to when I first started trying to keep that number down.”

Commissioner Tricia Durbin clarified the 2024 delinquent amount of $2.9 million is something the county will have to deal with in 2025. Baillie said that’s an average number for the county to have to deal with each year in delinquent tax notices.

“I know last year and 2022 look a little high compared to that,” he said. ‘That was mainly due to Pleasant with the Irving Distribution Center that was a big return so it kind of skewed those numbers up a little bit. But the average is about $2.9 (million), $2.8 million being returned as delinquent. I’ve really been curious about 2025 what those numbers will look like so I’m really happy to have this spreadsheet and then to see. It’s kind of lame to be excited about, ‘Oh what’s going to look like next year?’ but it’s nice to have that record.”

Durbin noted as well that the amount of delinquent taxes could decrease next year now that the county has gone to split tax billing. Instead of one combined bill, the bills for municipal and county taxes will now be split from the school district portion of the bill. That means property owners will have to pay three property tax bills instead of one. County and local tax bills will be sent in March, according to a recent FAQ sent by Warren County officials, with school tax bills to be sent in August.

Warren County was the last county in Pennsylvania to send out a combined tax bill each year. County officials are making the change to help alleviate a cash crunch created, in part, because local governments and the Warren County School District operate on different fiscal years. The county operates on a January through December fiscal year while the school district’s fiscal year runs from July through June. The county’s 2024 property tax revenue did not start coming in until September, nine months into the fiscal year. That presents budgeting and cash flow challenges until it’s known, not until October or November, with just a month or two remaining in the fiscal year, whether the revenue for the year will match what was projected before the year started. Under the new model, revenue will come in much earlier in the year, allowing for more accurate financial planning.

“So the bills are split, so it’s a little bit easier for everybody but also you have more time to pay the county/township bill as well,” Baillie said. “So if you come in with some money later on year get those paid you know instead of waiting to have them come to me. I’m just concerned on how the county will operate because yes, they’re getting this money sooner, but they’re not going to see it later either, so we’ll see how that all balances out, shakes out.”