SLOCUM TOWNSHIP -- If you received a delinquent tax notice from Luzerne County, you might want to check your records. About two dozen property owners near Mountain Top got such a notice, even though they already paid.
A woman who didn't want to be identified owns three properties in Slocum Township and always keeps up on her taxes. Her school taxes from last year are stamped, "Paid." Over the weekend, she received a letter in the mail saying she was late and owed nearly $800.
"I was really upset because I thought, 'What happened here?' Because I'm very efficient with my taxes," she said. "Something had to be messed up, either when it was sent in to the courthouse and maybe it was credited incorrectly."
But when Newswatch 16 contacted the tax claim bureau, officials told us to reach out to a contractor.
Sean Shamany of Northeast Revenue Service is contracted by Luzerne County to work with local tax collectors. Shamany says the tax collector in Slocum Township is new and simply made a mistake.
"We have to legally send out notifications based on the information we get back from the tax collector. Everybody is human from time to time, there are mistakes that are made," he said.
Newswatch 16 went to the address of the Slocum Township tax collector that was listed on the late notice. No one answered the door.
Officials from Northeast Revenue Service think this situation should be a reminder for everyone to make sure you keep records of everything. They also say as long as you can prove you paid your taxes, it's very easy for them to zero out your bill.
