Large trays of checks sent in by taxpayers were in fact carried out of the courthouse to be processed by an employee from their home, Treasurer Sandie Egley has acknowledged to BeaverCountian.com.
BeaverCountian.com reported earlier today that two county employees alleged tax checks were being removed from the courthouse by the treasurer’s staff and taken to a private residence. Egley has clarified that the payments were for dog licenses, not property taxes.
Now Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp tells BeaverCountian.com he believes the Treasurer’s Office has been playing a game of whack-a-mole, and has been dishonest to the Board in its response to recent revelations.
“There are not millions of dollars in tax payments leaving the courthouse. There were trays of K9 checks that were taken home for an employee to work on because he has COVID and I needed something for him to do,” Egley said. “This is not something that I wanted to disclose. This is not something that should be out for the public, it is putting everybody in danger.”
Egley said she changed her mind on January 5 about allowing her employees to also process tax checks from their homes, only after BeaverCountian.com had approached her for comment about the issue the day before.
“That is where I stand, I changed my mind last Tuesday,” Egley insisted.
Egley admits she made the decision last year to print property tax bills instructing checks be made payable to “Beaver County Treasurer, Sandie Egley,” because she intended employees to remove the checks from the courthouse as take-home work.
Egley had made a campaign promise that her name would not appear on the tax bills, after criticizing the practice by former treasurer Connie Javens. Egley said she believed Javens was including her name on the bills for political purposes; an attempt by Javens to brand herself for reelection she insisted.
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