Municipal Elections 101 from Spotlight PA educates readers about the local positions on their ballots and empowers them to make informed decisions. Sign up for our free newsletters.
On Nov. 4, Pennsylvanians will elect local officials who make critical decisions about public safety, financial priorities, and more.
Some voters will see candidates for tax collector, auditor, and other related positions on their ballot, depending on how their local government is structured.
Many municipalities hire an auditing firm rather than elect someone to review government finances and find any irregularities, said Paula Holoviak, a professor in the department of philosophy and government at Kutztown University. The position of tax collector, meanwhile, is “highly valued,” she said, because it pays well and doesn’t require advanced skills or training.
Almost all of the commonwealth’s 2,560 municipalities elect tax collectors, while fewer than half elect auditors, according to a database maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED).
Whether a community opts to elect those positions is determined by the type of municipality and its class. Townships, cities, and counties are further broken down into different classes based on factors like a community’s population.
Those government structures also outline the roles of tax collector and auditor. In some cases, the duties of these positions are performed by other elected officials. For example, in third-class cities and some home rule municipalities, residents elect a treasurer who serves as the tax collector.
Before you head to the polls, it’s important to understand your municipality’s government structure, what positions are up for election, and why those roles are important.
What is a tax collector?
Tax collectors are responsible for gathering municipal, property, and personal taxes, as well as potentially other taxes and fees levied in a community. They are elected to four-year terms.
To run for tax collector, you must be at least 21 and a resident of the municipality for at least a year before the election. You do not need to be a “public accountant or certified public accountant” to run, according to a manual from DCED, but basic training is required, along with continuing education while in office.
Tax collectors typically don’t hire staff, but can hire deputies if needed. Success in a role is relative, Holoviak said. Being known in the community helps, she said. The elected position isn’t about being qualified as much as aligning with local voters values like being trustworthy and community-minded, she added.
Holoviak said it’s a lucrative position in local government, which incentivizes people to run. She said the average salary is around $50,000 for the part-time job, though compensation is set by a municipality’s legislative body. The pay structures can also differ depending on a community’s government setup.
“It’s a great-paying job and it doesn’t require a ton of education,” she said. “Tax collector is hotly contested many times.”
If voters fail to elect someone to the post, a municipality’s legislative body can appoint someone. In some cases, a municipality can appoint a collection agency to fulfill the role, which authorizes county treasurers or adjoining municipalities to collect taxes until the position is filled.
Why doesn’t my locality elect a tax collector?
Counties in Pennsylvania do not elect tax collectors because municipalities are responsible for that work.
Many Pennsylvania municipalities have adopted home rule charters, which allow the community to craft the government structure and adopt it by public vote. Home rule municipalities can designate which officer collects local taxes, so it could be an elected tax collector or a treasurer. Home rule communities can also eliminate the office and hire a tax collection agency, but rarely do so.
Third-class cities in the commonwealth don’t elect a tax collector. Instead, they elect a treasurer to collect real estate taxes for the city.
What is an auditor?
Boroughs and townships in Pennsylvania must annually audit local accounting records and ensure they accurately reflect the municipality’s financial position.
This work can be done by three elected auditors, an elected controller, or by certified public accountants appointed to perform the audit instead of or in addition to elected auditors, per an auditor’s guide written by the DCED.
Elected auditors, who serve staggered six-year terms, are not required to have any training in auditing or accounting. Unlike professional auditors, elected municipal auditors have “no responsibility for the financial welfare of the municipality beyond the settlement of the accounts,” according to the DCED guide.
Elected auditors must “audit, adjust and settle the accounts of the tax collector, district justice and all officers” of a community. They also have to audit the accounts of any person, organization, or agency that receives or spends municipal funds.
Professional auditors also have the responsibility of recommending improvements in accounting practices, internal controls, and other fiscal matters. Elected auditors, lacking that expertise, are not required to prepare supporting financial statements or adhere to generally accepted accounting principles.
Various codes allow municipal auditors to pay an attorney to help settle disagreements, and auditors have the power to subpoena witnesses and produce necessary evidence during the auditing process.
The DCED guide advises elected auditors to take “an advisory role in the improvement of municipal financial procedures as deemed appropriate" and check recommendations with “knowledgeable municipal personnel” before making them public.
Because elected auditors are not required to have any special accounting or bookkeeping skills, a municipality may also opt to hire a certified public accountant. These professionals are skilled in auditing practices and standards and can make sense of complex municipal finances.
If there is a vacancy in the office, the municipality’s legislative body can fill it. If the vacancy is for a term that has more than two years left, a new auditor is elected at the next municipal election scheduled at least 60 days after the vacancy occurs.
What is a controller?
A controller has the same powers and duties as elected auditors. In boroughs and first-class townships, they must be a “competent accountant,” according to the DCED guide, as well as a registered voter in the municipality for at least four years before an election.
They also oversee the day-to-day financial operations of a municipality.
Cities also elect controllers who are responsible for conducting financial and operational audits to identify waste, fraud, and abuse in city departments.
Counties in Pennsylvania, from the first through fifth classes, also must elect controllers. Counties in the sixth through eighth classes can add an elected controller office with the support of at least 100 voters.
Why don’t I elect an auditor or controller?
Boroughs and first-class townships have the legal option to eliminate an elected board of auditors and elect a treasurer or hire an independent accountant instead.
Home rule municipalities, which allow voters to determine their government structure, may opt to make either or both of these positions appointed. In the city of Reading, Berks County collects the city’s taxes, and the city’s auditor is appointed by the council.
Why do some communities outsource these services?
Pennsylvania’s municipalities require about 12,000 elected officials, and a 2021 survey of nearly 900 of them found that about half ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections.
Local government experts say many smaller Pennsylvania boroughs and townships may opt to outsource services because a community can’t get enough people to run for elected office, or to save money.
“It makes a lot more sense for at least municipalities to consider — if they have not gotten a full board of auditors — an independent accountant,” said David Greene, executive director of the Pennsylvania Local Government Commission.
Lawmakers have even considered changing laws and statutes for some of these positions. When the General Assembly amended the law that governs elected tax collectors’ roles and responsibilities in 2008, Greene said legislators considered centralizing real estate tax collection and doing away with local elected collectors.
Ultimately, Pennsylvania lawmakers kept things as is, with the “sentiment being that constituents preferred the local approach, electing a ‘neighbor’ who would be accountable at the ballot box for the job,” Greene said.
The same argument can be applied to keeping elected auditors, he added.
"Typically, independent accountants will prepare books but will be less inclined to scrutinize the legality of expenditures,” he said.