Jim Thorpe Area School District’s board of directors tabled a motion on Wednesday night to approve a Municipal Revenue Services agreement that would allow the district to sell its delinquent real estate tax liens to a third-party entity. The agreement would have applied to delinquent taxes from the 2025-27 fiscal years.

“I did reach out to other districts who use the service and they have some different opinions of it, so we’re going to do a little more research and make a decision next month,” Business Manager Brian Off said.

The vote to table Wednesday was unanimous.

“Panther Valley did this in the past and now they’re looking to get out of it from what I understand,” director Gerald Strubinger said. “We have a 94% collection rate so there is only 6% delinquent anyway.”

The proposal

The proposal under consideration involves selling the district’s delinquent real estate tax liens which, according to Superintendent Robert Presley, would provide Jim Thorpe with an immediate infusion of cash.

“This company, if you use it, will buy all of our delinquent taxes right now,” Presley said during last week’s board workshop. “They will buy all of our delinquent taxes, which would provide an extra $750,000 this year of revenue in the district budget.”

The agreement would guarantee the district the full amount of the outstanding taxes while relinquishing its ability to collect penalties and interest from late payments.

“They would purchase all current and past-due delinquent taxes owed to the district, including an estimated $1.75 million budgeted for delinquent tax collection in the current fiscal year,” Presley said last week.