Kaleta settlement paid, back taxes not

April 17--SHAMOKIN -- Despite receiving a $50,000 lawsuit settlement from the county last month, a city man has not made payments on back taxes.

David F. Kaleta told The News-Item Feb. 9 he was unaware of the $2,778.14 he owed in past-due real estate taxes on 146 and 148 E. Sunbury St. His wife, Kathi, told The News-Item in February they had not yet received the settlement money and planned to pay the amount owed in full when the check arrived. She said she handles the family's bill-paying.

On Thursday, the Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau said no payments have been made on the Kaleta bill, which has grown to $2,833.14 due to interest, since Sept. 9. They owe for 2013 and 2014.

County Human Resources Director Joseph Picarelli confirmed the county's insurance company sent the settlement check via FedExMarch 6. The package was received and signed for by someone at the Sunbury office of Kaleta's lawyers, Kymberley Best and Tim Bowers, March 9.

Reached for comment Thursday afternoon, Kaleta said he had paid last year's taxes and is still paying on present ones. Responding to verification by the tax claim bureau that $775.96 was still owed for 2013 and no payments had been made in more than six months, Kaleta said, "That isn't true."

When asked for information on when he had made payments, Kaleta referred further questions to his lawyers. A call to Best Thursday afternoon wasn't returned.

Kathi Kaleta later contacted The News-Item to say she'd be making the payment Wednesday. She said it's her fault that it hadn't yet been paid, saying she's been busy with her two jobs, and that her husband thought she had made the payment.

She said she didn't want to pay online because of a fee, which is 2.75 percent, and that otherwise a past-due payment needs to be made in person. Wednesday is her next opportunity to get there during office hours, which are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

Kathi said because she handles the couple's money matters, she wouldn't ask her husband to take the payment to Sunbury.

At a <chron>Feb. 3 meeting, county commissioners voted to accept a request by the insurance company representing the county to award the settlement and end a lawsuit filed in 2012. Kaleta claimed the county and Commissioners Stephen Bridy and Vinny Clausi denied his First Amendment rights and violated the Sunshine Law in a dispute involving his access to county land.

The next day, Kaleta issued a letter to the editor revealing a "list of demands" he made to the county at a mandated mediation session two years ago. Among them were that Clausi, after publicly raising the issue of back taxes and that Kaleta was on disability, should pay Kaleta's back taxes for "embarrassing my hard-working wife and myself."

Kaleta announced in a Facebook post three days after the settlement was approved that he had taken possession of a 2013 Dodge Ram 1500. He called the truck a necessity because his old one had mechanical issues and said he hadn't officially purchased the truck because he had not yet received the settlement money.

Kaleta said he paid about $17,000 to Best and Bowers for their services.

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