Whitehall Township treasurer accuses mayor, employees of obstruction

Whitehall Township’s treasurer and tax collector has hired a lawyer to investigate and possibly file a lawsuit over what she says is obstruction, harassment and retaliation from other township officials.

Tina Koren hired the firm Mobilio Wood for her complaint about “unprecedented” obstruction, according to a Tuesday news release from attorney Matthew Mobilio.

“This obstruction is coming from within the Township itself, and Ms. Koren has retained Mobilio Wood to investigate a series of possible civil rights and other violations being actively committed against her and to pursue any and all legal remedies she may have,” Mobilio said in the news release.

Mayor Joseph Marx, who defeated Koren in the contentious mayoral election last year, denied the claims

“I’ve treated Mrs. Koren with dignity and respect since the day I started to serve as mayor,” Marx said.

Koren, who was elected to a four-year term as tax collector in 2021, said her problems began when she tried to implement procedures that would improve the tax office after nearly $78,000 of paid taxes and fees went missing in in 2018 and ’19 . An investigation into the missing money resulted in no charges because there was insufficient evidence to prove definitively who was responsible, and whether the incident was a case of theft or “incompetent records management,” then Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said.

These “strict” procedures, Koren explained, consisted of taking on responsibilities that tax office employees previously did, such as directly handling deposits, putting money into the safe and keeping monthly financial statements.

Koren said two tax office employees have pushed back on those procedures and acted hostile toward Koren and other employees, to the point of filing eight grievances against the tax collector, which she said won.

One of these employees, Koren said, reportedly didn’t want to work alone a couple of weeks ago, as other employees were sick or on leave. Koren subsequently had to close the tax office Aug. 22-23.

While the office was closed, a period Koren said the township government blamed her for, over $1 million in township revenue sat unprocessed.

In a Facebook post, Koren said she couldn’t accept tax payments because she is not a member of the township union. Under the township’s bargaining agreement, only tax clerks can accept payments, she said. She said she went to Marx and requested another person to take tax payments, which he allegedly declined.

The township apparently responded in an Aug. 27 post on Facebook .

“Whitehall Township will not publicly comment on personnel matters regarding its employees,” it said in an unsigned note below the township seal. “It is the Township’s position that confidential information regarding employees should not be shared or discussed in public. Recently, allegations related to Tax Office employees, other Township employees, the Township Administration and the Township Board of Commissioners were made on social media and to the press. Rest assured, the Township has taken all appropriate steps to address concerns regarding the Tax Office and will continue to support Township employees and address all appropriately raised concerns.”

The post continued, saying that only employees who completed a background check could accept payments at the township’s payment windows, and that the township can’t simply reassign employees to the tax office or use temporary workers for staffing shortages.

The Facebook post further claimed that Koren hasn’t appointed any tax office employees to help with unfulfilled responsibilities.

Koren also accused Marx and his administration of obstructing her by not responding to her concerns about the allegedly hostile employees, by not letting her discipline those employees, and by limiting her key fob access in the township building to just the tax office.

“I had to hire Mobilio unfortunately because it’s not getting any better,” Koren said. “The more I try to protect the money, they’re retaliating against me.”

Marx said he wouldn’t comment on personnel issues or Koren’s hiring of Mobilio, but that he doesn’t have power over Koren’s office and that he’s unaware of any retaliation against her.

“It’s her office,” he said. “How she runs that office is none of my business.”

Regarding Koren’s key fob access, Marx said it was common for township employees and officials to not have access to the entire building, adding that he doesn’t have normal access to Koren’s office.

“She has access to all the township facilities necessary to perform her functions,” Marx said.

Mobilio said the firm will file a right-to-know request for township correspondence to investigate Koren’s claims, adding that he’d like to speak with Marx and the township staff about the case.