Aldan tax collector investigated over missing funds

The Delaware County district attorney is investigating what happened to as much as $1 million in tax funds missing from the William Penn School District and Aldan Borough.

The inquiry is centered on the borough's tax collector, Robert H. Park, according to Jack Whelan, the district attorney.

"He is cooperating," Whelan said, adding that Park, 76, and his attorneys approached the District Attorney's Office. The investigation is being handled by the economic-crime unit, Whelan said.

The total amount is unclear, but $900,000 is missing from William Penn alone, said Joseph Otto, the district's chief operations officer, creating short-term cash-flow problems.

Calls to Park's home were not returned.

"This is an unfortunate situation, and Mr. Park is cooperating in the ongoing investigations," said Art Donato, his attorney. He would not comment further.

Aldan Mayor James Hopely referred all calls to Borough Solicitor Gary Seflin, who could not be reached for comment.

Park has been the borough tax collector for about 25 years, according to the biography posted on the League of Women Voters site. He is a longtime Republican.

"This is the last person in the world that any resident of Aldan would have suspected," County Councilman John McBlain, a former Aldan councilman, said of Park. In prior years Park was "never off a cent," he said.

School district officials contacted the borough in late October. After the Aldan Council asked auditors to review records, Park contacted Donato, McBlain said.

Otto said Aldan property owners pay about $5.8 million annually in real estate taxes to the district.

McBlain called the tax-collection system in the state "absolutely archaic" and "from a long-gone era."

Taxes are sent to a post office box and picked up by an elected tax collector, who makes the deposits and transfers.

McBlain said the collector is "completely independent" and has no professional support staff.

Park, he said, worked from his home and kept regular office hours on Monday nights. Many of the borough's 5,000 residents delivered their taxes in person. Park is bonded, McBlain said.

According to the borough website, Park received $6,850 in salary from the borough, which has an annual budget of about $1.7 million.

Park has lived in the borough for more than 40 years, his biography states. He served in the Army and is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a retired vice president of CoreStates Bank, a volunteer with the American Cancer Society, and a trustee and financial secretary at the Aldan Union Church.