The money recently stolen from the City of Pottsville's tax office was general fund money, Ellen Micka, city treasurer, said Tuesday.
"The money was from the city treasurer side of the tax office. It was general fund money, which is revenue that comes into the city through numerous sources including parking tickets, building permits, handicapped parking, delinquent taxes, the business privilege tax, the mechanical device tax and so forth," Micka said.
The shortfall - which was "in the neighborhood of $1,600" according to Mayor John D.W. Reiley - was discovered during a routine internal audit in June, Micka said.
Micka said her office is made up of two sections: the "city treasurer side" and the "tax collector side."
"While I'm elected treasurer, I'm appointed tax collector. And on the tax collector side of the office, we collect city, county and school district taxes for real estate, per capita and occupation taxes," Micka said.
The tax collector side of the office was not affected by the shortfall in funds Micka discovered in June.
On June 17, Micka and Councilman Michael P. Halcovage, head of the city finance committee, suspended Donald Long, Pottsville, without pay. He was a full-time tax clerk and is a suspect in the case.
On July 12, Schuylkill County District Attorney Karen Byrnes-Noon confirmed that county detectives were conducting an investigation into the missing funds.
Thomas J. Campion Jr., Schuylkill County first assistant district attorney, said Tuesday the investigation is still continuing and may last two weeks. He didn't have a definitive date. but no charges were filed Tuesday, Campion said.
In the 25 years that she has worked in the city's tax office, Micka, 59, said she's never had to deal with a situation like this.
"This never happened before and when I found out about it, I was sick to my stomach. I was in denial and sick to my stomach," Micka said.
When she discovered the shortfall, she immediately consulted city officials, starting with Halcovage, who is head of the finance committee.
"We talked to everybody, first Michael. Then, we had a meeting with everybody," she said, referring to the city council. "Then, we turned the investigation over to the county."
The two detectives working on the case are Campion and Martin Heckman, according to Micka and Byrnes-Noon.
Halcovage did not return calls for comment.
Micka said she has worked in the tax office for 25 years and has been treasurer since 1993.
She was initially appointed by the council to fill the post following the death of City Treasurer Margaret F. "Peg" Purcell in October 1992. Micka's name was on the ballot in the 1993 election.
"The first time I ran, it was for a two-year term. The other five times were for four-year terms," Micka said.
She was re-elected in the November 2011 election and her current term ends in December 2015.
She managed a staff of four full-time employees until June 17, when she recommended Long be suspended. Now, she's running the office with three full-time workers.
On July 12, The Republican-Herald submitted a state Office of Open Records right-to-know request to city officials seeking information about the suspected theft and the actions that city officials took in response. It was sent to Micka, City Clerk Julie Rescorla and City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar.
Public agencies have five business days to respond to such requests, according to the website for the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records at openrecords.state.pa.us.
When asked if the response was ready Tuesday morning, City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said: "You'll get a response from our lawyer."