Leland Township will charge Leland Public Schools significantly less per parcel for the collection of school property taxes this summer.

The Township Board Monday approved a motion 3-2, with supervisor Harry Larkin and clerk Jane Keen opposed, to charge the school district $3.50 per parcel for the summer 2007 tax collection. Treasurer Michael Kirt Jr. made the motion and will monitor more closely the time he spends working on collecting local school property taxes over a 12-month period.

In February, Leland school superintendent Michael Hartigan appeared before the Township Board to seek a lower per parcel fee. A change in state law requires counties to collect their property taxes in summers, starting this year. Hartigan said he understood why townships were charging for a summer tax collection before. But, with county taxes now being collected in the summer, the township was no longer holding a special collection to satisfy the school district.

Hartigan said the Leland Board of Education suggested no new rate, only that the township consider lowering how much it charged. In 2006, the township assessed the school district a per parcel charge of $4.31.

Kirt presented the board with estimates of time he spends collecting and processing local school property taxes. Kirt, who receives an annual salary of $25,500, estimated he spends 73 percent of his time in tax collection duties, which means $18,565 of his salary is spent on tax collection. He said about half of the work, or about $9,282, is spent collecting school taxes, and the other half on county tax collections.

With 2,615 parcels included in the Leland school district in the township, Kirt estimated the cost per parcel is $3.55. He said the new charge of $3.50 was fair.

Trustee Steve Plamondon said if he were superintendent of Leland schools, he would question Kirt’s estimates for how much time the treasurer spends working on tax collection. As an example, Plamondon said that Kirt stated that 100 percent of his time is spent on tax collection in June.

Keen and Larkin both said they did not doubt Kirt estimates, but that he was already providing the service to township taxpayers. Ultimately, taxpayers will pay for the extra per-parcel charge, Keen and Larkin maintained.

“We’re double-dipping here,” Keen said.

Kirt said local school districts are not required to collect property taxes in the summer, and that it is done so districts have funds before the school year begins. “My main concern is that the township receive the proper remuneration for the service we provide,” he said.

Larkin said the township collects about $4 million in property tax revenue for the local school district. Funds are placed in interest-bearing accounts and the township receives the interest. He estimated the township earns about $3,000 off the accounts and asked Kirt to lower the $9,282 amount by $3,000.

“I’d like us to give some consideration to the local school, maybe charge $2, $2.50,” he said.