WHITE LAKE, NY — The on-again, off-again status of the Town of Bethel tax collector is now off again.  Debra Gabriel sent the town board a letter in August 2019 resigning from the position. Her name, however, was still on the ballot for the Nov. election.  Before the election she changed her position about whether she would serve if she won the contest. Ultimately she said that she would serve, and she won the election. 

At a meeting of the Town of Bethel board on Jan. 2 Supervisor Dan Sturm said he had received a new letter of resignation from Gabriel, the previous day, which was the first day of the tax collection period.  Sturm read the letter aloud. “After careful consideration, I have decided in the best interest of my family, myself and the town of Bethel, it is best that I, Debra Holt Gabriel, resign my position as the Town of Bethel tax collector, effective Jan. 2, 2020. It has pleasure severing the Town of Bethel residents over the last 18 years.”

Sturm then issued a statement.  He said, “Just to be clear, with no notice, we were left with no one to collect taxes or perform the other duties of that position.”

In a post on her Facebook page, Gabriel issued a statement saying that Sturm denied her access to the tax collector’s office in December and told her she would not have access to it until January 1. The post said that at a board meeting in December “a town constable spoke up at the meeting indicating he felt the 2nd was the best day. At this point I realized just how untenable the situation was.”

Sturm said he offered to give Gabriel anything she needed, but on the advice of the town attorney would give her the the keys to the office when her employment began on Jan. 2.

At the Jan 2 meeting, Sturm  said that he and the board put a temporary plan in place, whereby county treasurer Nancy Buck has agreed to provide the town a county employee to accept tax payments on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the town hall, 9:00 Am to 1:00 pm. Also residents may pay their taxes at the county treasurer’s office in the Sullivan County government center.

Town Attorney Karen Mannino told the board they needed to grant Sturm authority to sign an inter-municipal agreement with the county in order for the agreement to go forward.

What would happen if the board declined? “If you don’t do that, I don’t know that there is a realistic mechanism for you to make arrangements for the timely collection of taxes,” said Mannino.

The board voted to grant the authority with only council member Dawn Rider voting no.

Susan Brown Otto, who ran a write-in campaign to become the tax collector, asked if there would be an election for the next tax collector in the fall.  She noted that with the newly-advanced election schedule, candidates would need to begin circulating petitions in February.

“I would say yes,” said Sturm.  He said the agreement with the town would be for the current tax collection season only.

In the meantime an audit of last year’s tax collections is still underway over various issues that arose in the tax collection office during 2019.