BUFFALO TWP — Board directors tabled a vote to publicize names of delinquent taxpayers on Freeport Area School District’s website with no further discussion at a meeting Wednesday, June 12, following concerns voiced over the proposed decision last week.

According to Bradley Walker, director of finance and operations, the district is owed $1.4 million in delinquent taxes — 45% of which comes from Buffalo Township, 14% from Freeport and 41% from South Buffalo Township.

According to Walker, about $800,000 date to the past two years, and a “hefty portion” of the taxes owed comes not from homeowners, but pertains to mineral rights.

“There’s a couple hundred thousand dollars of that older delinquent money that is due to oil and mineral rights for properties that have not been paid over time and just sit there,” Walker said after the meeting. “The county puts (the rights) up for sale, and nobody buys them. Therefore, they just remain delinquent, skewing the data.”

Walker also noted that the district’s collection of property taxes averages 95.5% in Butler County and about 92.5% in Armstrong County.

“That is a bright spot to the whole gloomy delinquent tax process,” he said.