Voted Down: Public Posting of Liens Doesn't Fly in Spring City

A recommendation from the Spring City Finance and Ordinance committee to publicly post names and addresses of residents who have liens against their homes was voted down Monday night following a lengthy discussion.

Spring City Borough Council voted 4-2 against the proposal to post the information on the borough website in an effort to collect unpaid taxes.

"We're trying to humiliate people into paying their bill," Councilman Gene Sweeney said.

The committee came up with the suggestion in hopes that "maybe seeing their name in print would encourage them to pay their bills," Council President Louis DiGuiseppe said.

"They think, now my neighbor knows I didn't pay my bill. Or, people see them at the bar every night and think, 'oh, they're at the bar but they haven't paid their tax bill'," DiGuiseppe said. 

However, DiGuiseppe said, it was just one of many ideas.

"It's not breaking my heart if it gets denied," DiGuiseppe said, and his vote was cast against the motion at the end.

Several council members felt that "shaming people" wouldn't help the borough collect. 

Councilman Michael Hays felt that "the bad PR will outweigh what you'll collect."

Solicitor Robert Romain said that there is no privacy issue with posting such information because liens are public record once they are filed. 

When the motion came up for a vote, only councilmen James Burns and Donald Shaner voted for posting the information. DiGuiseppe, Hays, Sweeney and Councilman Michael Petak voted no.