Taxes in North Whitehall Township
In order to fund its operations and provide a wide range of local services, North
Whitehall Township levies a broad spectrum of taxes and assessments, which are designed to
impact diverse tax bases or are used to fund particular programs and services.
Property Taxes:
All real property which is determined to be taxable or partially taxable by the Lehigh
County Assessment Office is subject to three categories of property taxation in the Township.
Local property tax rates are referred to as “mills,” which is one-thousandth of one dollar of
assessed value, or one dollar per thousand. One mill is equal to a rate of 0.001 multiplied by a
property’s assessed value. The following are the Township’s millage rates effective as of 2025:
General Property Tax Levy: 0.65 mills (.00065)
Fire Tax Levy (new in 2025): 0.45 mills (.00045)
Farmland Preservation Levy: 0.10 mills (.0001)
Total Millage Rate: 1.20 mills (.0012)
The General Tax Levy is used to fund the Township’s operations, including personnel
costs, overhead, planning, zoning, public works, and parks and recreation, to name a few.
The Fire Tax Lexy is used strictly to provide fire protection to Township residents, and
includes operational costs for our four fire companies, their insurance, the employment of a fire
commissioner, an unfunded mandate for new radios, and an amount in excess of operating
costs that is placed in a capital reserve fund for future fire equipment acquisition. All revenues
and expenditures from the fire tax are isolated in a separate fire fund.
The Farmland and Open Space Tax Levy is used to preserve farmland from
development. The funds compensate landowners for the cost of not selling the property to
developers. In turn, the landowners agree to a conservation easement which permanently
encumbers the property from development. Frequently, local preservation funds are leveraged
with County, State, and/or Federal funds to stretch local tax dollars even further. All revenues
and expenditures from this tax are isolated in a farmland fund.
Property Taxes are collected by the Township’s Tax Collector Donna Kumernitsky (2022-
2026). The deputy tax collector is Jonathan Kumernitsky.
Tax Collector Contact Information
Phone: 610-769-3000
Email: realestatetax@northwhitehall.org
Temporary Physical Address for paying taxes: 4110 Independence Drive, Suite 100, Schnecksville, PA
The Tax Collector will be available by appointment only in the months of January - March. To schedule an appointment, email realestatetax@northwhitehall.org
The fee for a tax certification is $30.00. A duplicate bill fee is $5.00
Delinquent Property Taxes:
NWT has a 98%+ compliance rate in each year in which property taxes are levied. For
those property owners who did not pay taxes in full in the first year, the Township has
established a low cost and efficient option to satisfy their tax obligation with plenty of advanced
notice before the property owner would suffer serious consequences, including forfeiting the
property at tax sale.
All General, Fire and Farmland tax assessments not paid by December 31 of each year
are forwarded to the Lehigh County Tax Claim Bureau. The County has contracted with Elite
Revenue Solutions to manage the bureau.
If a taxpayer has not paid property taxes in full by December 31, or has received a notice
from Elite Revenue Solutions, the Township recommends the property owner contact Elite
Revenue Solutions at 610-782-3119 or visit the website as soon as possible. The first property tax sales occur two Septembers after the close of
the tax year or about 20 months from the date that tax claims are referred to the Tax Claim
Bureau.
For homeowners who live in the property with outstanding taxes, there may be relief
available if they are experiencing legitimate hardship or are over the age of 65.
Act 511 Taxes:
Act 511 of 1965 (53 P.S. §6924.101 et seq.) grants local Pennsylvania local government the authority to levy special local taxes on various subjects, privileges, and transactions other than ownership of real property. Like virtually every other local government in Pennsylvania, NWT uses Act 511 to collect Earned Income Tax (EIT), Realty Transfer Tax (RTT), and Local Services Tax (LST). Their respective rates are as follows:
EIT: 1% of resident wages or net profits (split 50/50 with Parkland School District)
RTT: 1% of arm’s length real estate sales (split 50/50 with PSD)
Local Services Tax: $52.00 annually for anyone employed within the Township ($47.00
to the Township and $5.00 to PSD)
Act 511 Collectors:
In accordance with the provisions of Act 32 of 2008, all EIT levied in Lehigh County is
collected and administered by Berkheimer Tax Innovations. For efficiency purposes,
Berkheimer also collects LST for North Whitehall. Most questions regarding EIT and LST
collections can be found by visiting Berkheimer's website.
RTT tax is collected and administered by the Lehigh County Recorder of Deeds. More
information can be found on the Lehigh County website
Street Lighting:
On November 4, 2024, the NWT Board of Supervisors voted to codify a street lighting
ordinance cost sharing ordinance. Although the practice had been in place since time
immemorial, NWT codified the cost sharing methodology by creating a uniform assessment on
all properties whose borders are within 250 feet of a streetlight. All such properties are required
to pay the assessment, regardless of whether their property is taxable or exempt for property
tax purposes.
The assessment amount for 2025 is $32.00 per property. The assessment is collected
by the Township Tax Collector. Delinquent accounts are collected by Norris McLaughlin P.A. at
610-391-1800.