New Tax Collector Named

After more than a year without a permanent tax collector, the City Council agreed Wednesday to the appointment of Marie Glavan to fill an unexpired term.

Glavan succeeds Constance Ludden, who vacated the office on March 1, 2006. Glavan will serve the balance of Ludden’s term, to Dec. 31, 2008.

Glavan’s candidacy was discussed in closed session Monday and no other details were given Wednesday.

In the absence of a permanent tax collector, Orange Tax Collector David Marshall served part-time on Wednesdays in the tax office.

Besides supervising tax collection, the tax collector is in charge of the annual tax lien sale in which the city sells off debt. The city receives payment from successful bidders, who are then owed the tax amount plus up to 18 percent interest.

The office has had its ups and downs. In the administration of former Mayor Harold Mitchell, former tax collector Katherine Knox left the office under a cloud. Former Mayor Mark Fury appointed a boyhood friend as acting tax collector, but state officials said only a certified tax collector could hold the job.

One of Ludden’s last acts was to get City Council permission to put more than $800,000 in overpayments back into surplus. The council insisted on giving affected taxpayers additional notice of the overpayments in a last-ditch effort to let them claim the funds, but as of last month only about $30,000 had been claimed.

See Plaintalker’s past stories on the tax collector here.

--Bernice Paglia