To the editor,
In a Feb. 20, 2015 article in the Citizen’s News it was encouraging to see that another small portion of the delinquent Beacon Falls taxes was collected. The bigger question is why isn’t the entire $2,000,000 +/- amount being pursued? The exact dollar amount is well protected but $2 million is a fairly accurate figure.
The current regime has certainly made some progress collecting past due dollars. However, because of so many prior years of neglect, it seems that the complete undertaking is too massive a task for the small staff at Town Hall. The little-at-a-time approach would indicate that outside assistance is needed in order to bring the balance down to a reasonable total in a timely fashion.
Why not hire a proven, tested collection agency to do the job as many area towns have done? Certainly a company that specializes in this type of work, and has more employees with experience to know how to address this problem, can produce quicker results.
If other Beacon Falls residents are concerned about paying higher taxes while all of the unpaid money is not being collected, I encourage them to inquire why this is happening. Perhaps it is time to seek some answers in the form of additional letters and phone calls.
Property taxes, whether they are current or in arrears, must be paid by everyone.
Joe Pavlik
Beacon Falls
