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