SUNBURY – Northumberland County Commissioners Sam Schiccatano and Rich Shoch have released their own statement about the controversial lease agreement between the county and TrueCore LLC.
Speaking on behalf of the two, Commissioner Schiccatano says no taxes are due at this time from the for-profit company, as per county law, “When a company takes over tax exempt property in the middle of the year, the tax exemption stays on that property until the beginning of the new year. At that time, it is recalculated if it is taxable and they would have an opportunity to question that and come in to have a hearing on that.”
Commissioners Shoch and Schiccatano submitted an email to WKOK in response to fellow Commissioner Kymberly Best’s comments earlier this week. She claimed TrueCore was enjoying an illegal tax-free, and the county taxpayers are footing the bill.
After reading Best’s comments, which was a letter submitted to WKOK, Schiccatano says he checked with the proper personnel to make sure the agreement is legal, “I am not an attorney. I was elected to be an elected official. So when I see these kinds of issues, I get the people in that can interpret it…our solicitor, or tax claim person, and our assessment person, and they read the law and they come to me. Again, this could have been discussed at a work session.” (Matt Catrillo)
Below is the full text of commissioner’s email Wednesday:
It has come to our attention that some confusing and inaccurate information has been disseminated to the public in recent days regarding the tax status of the buildings that the County of Northumberland is leasing to TrueCore Behavioral Solutions, LLC. We have attached a letter from our County’s Chief Assessor explaining the process for determining the tax status of properties in Northumberland County as it relates to the buildings in question.
In addition, the original lease agreement, as well as the recently approved addendum to that agreement, which temporarily reduced the amount of the lease payment specify who is to pay any taxes, if applicable. The addendum shifted the burden of any applicable taxes to True Core Behavioral Solutions, LLC in connection with the reduction in their lease payment. If Commissioner Best were to decide to begin attending the public advertised Work Sessions, which she has not done for approximately 1 1/2 years, we could discuss concerns like those that she has indicated prior to entering into contracts, leases, etc. Our understanding is that this is how official business is conducted in every other County in Pennsylvania.
Sincerely,
Commissioner Richard Shoch and Samuel Schiccatano
