eCollect Plus successfully bid on the City of Chester contract to collect all taxes and conduct an audit compliance program.
Background
The City of Chester is a financially distressed community of the 3rd class located in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Chester is designated as an Act 47 financially distressed community by the State of Pennsylvania. Despite significant growth though new employers such as Harrah’s Casino and the Philadelphia Union Major League Soccer Team, the City retains the financially distressed designation.
The Solution
The city’s previous tax collector ceased operations and the city was left to make sure tax revenue remained consistent, and to rebuild their tax collection rolls. The State of Pennsylvania consolidated the collection of earned income tax through the passage of Act 32 of 2008. Although this reduced the number of collectors of earned income tax statewide, it also added increased responsibility and reporting requirements on the already overburdened and overwhelmed collectors. While earned income tax collection statewide has been overhauled, the other tax levies (including the gross receipts tax) remain a source of inconsistent collection by the largest private collectors. Municipalities that collect the tax in-house face staffing issues and do not have the expertise in conducting field audits.
The Results
eCollect Plus established itself as the preeminent firm that used analytics and field audits in conjunction with the legal team to effectively collect taxes other firms were neglecting to gather.
eCollect Plus systematically analyzed the records received from the previous collector and quickly identified sources of missed revenue. eCollect Plus utilized its audit staff to schedule field audits within the first 30 days of service to the city. In less than one year, eCollect Plus has identified in excess of $3 million in delinquent taxes and succeeded in collecting $1 million.
Delinquent taxes identified in less than one year
$3M
Delinquent taxes successfully collected
$1M
City of McKeesport, Allegheny County
Background
McKeesport is a city located in Allegheny County Pennsylvania. It is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers, and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 19,731 at the 2010 census. eCollect has partnered with the City since 2014 to conduct business privilege and mercantile audits as well as assume current collection duties from the City’s Finance Department.
The Results
eCollect was able to have an immediate impact by identifying in the first 90 days over $600,000 was through audit and discovery. This represents 85% of the total business privilege tax budget. As part of our ongoing audit and discovery process, eCollect was able to identify approximately $1.4 million through the performance of one audit of a non-resident publicly traded company doing business in the City.
Audit and Discovery Identified
$3,000,000+
eCollect Plus successfully bid on the Hanover Township contract to collect business privilege tax starting at the end of 2012.
Background
Hanover Township is centrally located municipality located in the Wilkes-Barre Scranton geographical region. The Township is centrally located near Route 81, Route 29 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Township also has a ten year Keystone Opportunity Zone Area which has attracted many national companies for the tax benefits of this program. Although the Township is on sound financial footing, they have experienced little to no increase in the collection of their business privilege tax.
The Solution
The Township’s previous tax collector ceased operations and the Township was left with the task of making sure tax revenue remained consistent as well as ensuring that all businesses were paying their required tax pursuant to the Township code. Additionally, the Township would require a full compliance audit of the businesses located in Keystone Opportunity Zones that have since had their KOZ status expire.
The Results
eCollect Plus was able to collect 10% of their annual business privilege tax budget in the first sixty days of service. The Township saw a sizable percentage in increased collections during 2013 and eCollect Plus has recovered over 50% of the Township budget in 2014 through the performance of a single audit. eCollect Plus systematically analyzed the records received from the previous collector and supplemented the data by utilizing subscription data as well as performing a physical census in order to identify sources of missed revenue. eCollect Plus immediately mobilized accounting, audit and management staff in order to maximize the opportunity of recovering the potentially lost revenue.