Why did Patricia Monahan use a clothes iron on the job as the Killingly tax collector?

DANIELSON — When Patricia Monahan was hired as Killingly’s tax collector back in 1980 there were no remote debit or credit card payment options for residents – if you were looking to settle your tax bill you either cut a check or walked into town hall with what you owed.

On Wednesday – the day before she retired after 43 years on the job - Monahan retrieved a Singer Sewing Machine Company Model B “automatic” iron with a fabric-wrapped cord from behind a cabinet, the same sort of device used decades ago by folks perhaps looking to add a sharp crease to a pair of trousers.

“We had an actual cash register here and, after someone paid, we pulled off the receipt strip and used bonding paper - and a clothes iron like this - to attach it to a sheet that was brought up to the finance department,” Monahan said before pulling out a plastic-encased Killingly tax bill paid in February 1870.

Looking back on her tenure as head of the town's tax, or revenue, collector's office, Monahan said automation was the biggest game-changer in her department. The ability of residents to make payments online beginning in 2012, beyond introducing a level of convenience to the payers, also enabled employees to continue collecting taxes even at the height of the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

“We scattered the hours of employees so that if one person got sick, the whole office wasn’t down,” she said. “But we continued working.”

Monahan began her municipal position after working bookkeeping and other jobs, quickly learning that a town’s tax collection office is one of the most publicly forward-facing spaces inside a local government building.

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“We deal with all of the public: the social, happy people with checks; the people frustrated with government, period; and the angry residents that don’t understand their bills or the messages they receive,” she said. “What we do is try to accept that there’s no such thing as a canned character, that everyone’s situation is different. And when we explain the law and how best to resolve their issues, they generally leave satisfied.”

Town Manager Mary Calorio called Monahan a “diligent, dedicated” town employee who was able to see the larger picture.

“She’s a solutions-based person who’s able to work with residents and other department heads,” Calorio said. “She knows how to de-escalate a situation and has taught her staff those same skills.”

Under Monahan’s guidance, the revenue collection office has steadily maintained between a 98.5% and 99.4% yearly tax collection rate, Calorio said, figures that enable the town to keep a more balanced mill rate.

When Calorio was hired as the town’s finance director in 2009, she said she relied on Monahan to help her navigate unfamiliar territory.

“I came from a non-profit and corporate finance background and Pat helped me understand municipal concepts, from revenue collection to the legislative changes in the interest rate,” Calorio said.

Monahan credits her staff helping make her office a smoothly run and sunny place to work.

“Being here makes up a large part of all our days and we wanted the time we spent here together as pleasant,” she said.

That urge to make a tax collection office an agreeable place extended to its customers. To that end, employees made efforts to work with any residents unable to meet their tax obligations.

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“The biggest thing I wanted people to know was to come talk to us, not to ignore a bill or delinquent notice,” Monahan said. “If someone comes in, we can point them to community resources that can assist with financial issues that might make people feel hopeless. By state statute, we can’t eliminate interest or penalties, but we can work out payment plans.”

Whenever a delinquent taxpayer contacted her, Monahan said her first question was always “What can you afford?”

“We’d work out a payment plan whose length depended on the bill size and an individual’s situation,” she said. “What was rewarding to us was to see an agreement completed and see someone come back the following July and say proudly ‘I’m on time.’ Whenever a tax bill isn’t paid, someone else in town pays a little more.”

Since in many cases a resident’s sole interaction with town hall might be coming in and paying their taxes, Monahan’s staff, who also handle the billing and collection of sewer assessments, sewer-use charges, commercial and residential landfill permits, frequently hear of issues unrelated to their office’s specific mission.

“That might be a problem with potholes or a neighbor with varmints,” she said. “We’re able to direct them to the right people or pass a message on ourselves.”

Calorio said an internal candidate to take over for Monahan will be presented to Town Council members on May 2. By town charter, the town manager can appoint such a department head with the council providing “advice and consent” to the recommendation.

Calorio said six candidates applied for the position though the preferred applicant’s name has not yet been released.

After Thursday, Monahan said she plans spend more time with her family and the Community Kitchens of Northeastern Connecticut non-profit group, an organization dedicated to providing meals to needy residents.

“It’s time,” Monahan said. “Life’s short.”

John Penney can be reached at jpenney@norwichbulletin.com or at (860) 857-6965.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Retiring Killingly tax collector praises staff and 'automation'