TREVORTON - The pastor of a church here says her congregation was embarrassed to see their church identified as a state tax delinquent.
Especially when they knew it wasn't true.
In January, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue website included Trevorton United Methodist Church on its list of delinquents, saying it owed $2,213.83 in employment taxes. Adding salt to the wound was a resulting story in The News-Item that highlighted the church and 163 other local delinquents that had been "outed."
"I was appalled," said the Rev. Kay Painter. "This little church has always paid everything that is due, so our church board and I got right to work to straighten out this problem."
It wasn't easy, but they got to the bottom of it. Turns out, not only was the delinquency incorrect, Trevorton UM had actually overpaid in taxes. And now, ironically, it is the church that is waiting on its refund - from the state.
What happened?
With the help of the church's Philadelphia Area Episcopal Office, and several months of sifting through information, the problem was identified.
"The Department of Revenue had the money, but it was not being put in the right place," Painter said. "It was paid to Harrisburg, but not being credited to us."
The church was making monthly payments instead of quarterly payments, which apparently caused the money to be incorrectly credited.
A spokesperson for the Department of Revenue could not comment on the specifics of the case, citing taxpayer confidentiality, but confirmed the church made all necessary payments to satisfy the lien, first filed in October 2009.
The church is expecting a refund of between $500 and $600.
"In this economy, that's going to help," Painter said. "That's a lot of money to be getting back."
Reputation damaged
Still, the church says the biggest problem was the damage to its reputation.
"Trevorton United Methodist Church was founded in 1853, and there's never been a problem until now," Painter said. "It was upsetting to see."
Bishop Peggy A. Johnson, of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, agreed.
"The pastor, members and friends of the church work hard to maintain and grow their witness in their community and surrounding area," Johnson said. "The January 2011 article deeply hurt a congregation which loves its church and community."
Despite the negativity, Painter knew her parishioners never lost faith.
"Everyone knew what was going on through our board meetings, and knew that there had to be some sort of explanation for it all," Painter said. "It's just sad that it came out the way it did, but we showed that we were in the right."