Anyone going before the Carbon County Tax Appeals board in October will be heading to a new building.

On Thursday, the board of commissioners ratified a lease agreement with Sargent Holdings LLC of Jim Thorpe for rental of a portion of the first floor of 410 Center Ave., Jim Thorpe for the purpose of holding tax appeals hearings. The cost of the rental is $700. Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein was absent.

The commissioners confirmed that the move was because of the administration building elevator again being out of service. Appeals are heard on the third floor of the building so access is primarily stairs.

Anyone who is set to go before the tax appeals board on Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26 should report to 410 Center Ave. instead of the administration building.

Additional information, including a schedule of tax appeals each day, is also posted on the county website at https://tinyurl.com/TaxAppeals1023.

With regards to the elevator issue, the commissioners did not have a time frame on when the elevator will be repaired.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said that a part was supposed to have already been delivered but had not as of the meeting.

He said that maybe the county needs to look into purchasing spare parts, or maybe even a new elevator for the building.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich added that the elevator, which is approximately 40 to 50 years old, is “unfortunately close to the end of its life.”

He said that elevators aren’t made like they used to be, citing a working elevator in St. Mark’s Church that is over 100 years old.

This is the second time in a year that the elevator has been out of service in the administration building.

Last October, Carbon County paid $95,696 to Schindler Elevator Corporation of Allentown for repairs. At that time, the elevator had been out of service for months.

The problem also forced the county to shift its October 2022 tax appeals to another building.