Trial Engrossment of Amendment A05782 to House Bill 2460 P.N. 3654, Regular Session 2019-2020

A05782

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

2460

Session of

2020

INTRODUCED BY STEPHENS, APRIL 28, 2020

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, APRIL 28, 2020

AN ACT

Amending the act of May 25, 1945 (P.L.1050, No.394), entitled

"An act relating to the collection of taxes levied by

counties, county institution districts, cities of the third

class, boroughs, towns, townships, certain school districts

and vocational school districts; conferring powers and

imposing duties on tax collectors, courts and various

officers of said political subdivisions; and prescribing

penalties," further providing for interim assessment,

duplicate and warrant, for discounts, penalties and notice,

and for collectors required to be in attendance.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Section 5.1 of the act of May 25, 1945 (P.L.1050,

No.394), known as the Local Tax Collection Law, is amended by

adding a subsection to read:

Section 5.1. Interim Assessment; Duplicate; Warrant.--* * *

effective date of this subsection and an interim assessment

during the year 2020, the following shall apply:

(1) If the whole amount is paid by December 31, 2020, no

penalty may be imposed.

(2) If, as of December 31, 2020, taxes remain unpaid and

less than six months have elapsed since the date of the tax

notice, the taxing district shall reissue the duplicate to the

selected tax collector in order to permit the taxpayer six

months from the date of the tax notice to pay the taxes before

either a penalty is imposed or a delinquency is declared.

(3) The discount authorized under subsection (b)(1) shall

extend one month beyond the initial discount period authorized.

(4) If the whole amount is not paid by December 31, 2020,

and an extension has not been granted under paragraph (2), the

duplicate shall be declared delinquent.

following shall apply to real estate taxes due upon a duplicate

issued by a school district of the second class, third class or

fourth class or a vocational school district after an interim

assessment during calendar year 2020:

(1) The discount authorized under subsection (b)(1) shall

extend one month beyond the initial discount period authorized.

(2) If the whole amount is paid by December 31, 2020, no

penalty may be imposed.

(3) If, as of December 31, 2020, taxes remain unpaid and

less than six months have elapsed since the date of the tax

notice, the taxing district shall reissue the duplicate to the

selected tax collector in order to permit the taxpayer six

months from the date of the original tax notice to pay the taxes

before either a penalty is imposed or a delinquency is declared.

(4) If the whole amount is not paid as of December 31, 2020,

and an extension has not been granted under paragraph (1), the

duplicate shall be declared delinquent.

Section 2. Section 10(b) of the act is amended and the

section is amended by adding a subsection to read:

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Section 10. Discounts; Penalties; Notice.--* * *

(a.1) Notwithstanding any provision in subsection (a), for a

tax duplicate issued for real estate taxes both after the

effective date of this subsection and during the year 2020 by a

school district of the second class, third class or fourth class

or a vocational school district after an interim assessment

during calendar year 2020 , taxpayers who fail to make payment of

any taxes charged against them for four months after the date of

the tax notice shall not be charged a penalty. Taxpayers shall

have until December 31, 2020, to make payment of any taxes

charged them without a penalty being added to the taxes due.

(b) (1) If a taxpayer has not paid taxes on real estate

within four months after the date of the tax notice, the tax

collector shall send by first class mail the following notice in

bold print capital letters to the taxpayer:

YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES HAVE NOT BEEN PAID ON TIME, AND A

PENALTY HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE AMOUNT YOU OWE. IF NOT PAID BY

DECEMBER 31, YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES WILL BE DELINQUENT. IF YOU

HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT (NAME OF TAX COLLECTOR) BY

MAIL AT (ADDRESS) OR BY TELEPHONE AT (TELEPHONE NUMBER). IF YOUR

REAL ESTATE TAXES ARE TO BE PAID FROM AN ESCROW ACCOUNT

ESTABLISHED IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR MORTGAGE, YOU SHOULD CONTACT

THE COMPANY MANAGING YOUR ESCROW ACCOUNT.

(2) For a tax duplicate issued for real estate taxes during

the calendar year 2020, upon termination of a Statewide

declaration of emergency, the expiration or termination of the

Governor's proclamation of disaster emergency issued on March 6,

2020, published at 50 Pa.B. 1644 (March 21, 2020), the tax

collector shall send by first class mail the following

statement:

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IF YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES HAVE NOT BEEN PAID, YOU HAVE UNTIL

DECEMBER 31, 2020, TO PAY THEM WITHOUT PENALTY. THE DISCOUNT

PERIOD FOR YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES SHALL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL

(INSERT DATE). IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT

(INSERT NAME OF TAX COLLECTOR) BY MAIL AT (INSERT ADDRESS) OR

BY TELEPHONE AT (INSERT TELEPHONE NUMBER). IF YOUR REAL

ESTATE TAXES ARE TO BE PAID FROM AN ESCROW ACCOUNT

ESTABLISHED IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR MORTGAGE, YOU SHOULD

CONTACT THE COMPANY MANAGING YOUR ESCROW ACCOUNT .

(3) If a taxpayer has not paid by as of December 31 1 , 2020,

the tax collector shall mail the following by first class mail:

YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES HAVE NOT BEEN PAID ON TIME AND A

PENALTY HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE AMOUNT YOU OWE. IF NOT PAID BY

PAID BY JANUARY 31, YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES WILL BE DELINQUENT

and will b ecome delinquent as of January 1, 202 1 . IF YOU HAVE

ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT (INSERT NAME OF TAX COLLECTOR)

BY MAIL AT (INSERT ADDRESS) OR BY TELEPHONE AT (INSERT

TELEPHONE NUMBER). IF YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES ARE TO BE PAID

FROM AN ESCROW ACCOUNT ESTABLISHED IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR

MORTGAGE, YOU SHOULD CONTACT THE COMPANY MANAGING YOUR ESCROW

ACCOUNT.

* * *

Section 3. Section 13 of the act is amended to read:

Section 13. Collectors Required to Be in Attendance.--(a)

The tax collector shall in person, or by some person duly

authorized, be in attendance for the purpose of receiving and

receipting for taxes on at least three days of each week during

the last two weeks of the period or periods during which

discounts are allowed, at his residence or some other

appropriate place, to be designated by him in the tax notice.

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(b) (1) Subsection (a) shall not apply if the tax collector

posts written notice of the cancellation of attendance at the

entrance to the premises where attendance would have been held

and on the publicly accessible Internet website, if any, of the

municipality for which the tax collector was elected.

(2) As part of the written notice, the tax collector shall

include information on how individuals can pay their taxes to

the tax collector.

(3) This subsection shall expire January 1, 2021.

Section 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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