Beaver County assessor accused of stealing tax money

BEAVER, Pa. — Joshua Eckelberger has been Beaver County’s Chief Assessor for the last five years. On Monday, he resigned and is being investigated for possible theft from the assessor’s office and tax claims bureau, both offices he was in charge of.

“This is something we were made aware of yesterday morning,” Beaver County Commission Chairman Dan Camp said.

Camp said Eckelberger told county detectives he’d taken money.

The tax claims bureau collects unpaid, late taxes.

“Our understanding is that Mr. Eckelberger confessed to the monies are missing,” Camp said.

How much money, or how it was taken, isn’t clear yet.

Even before Eckelberger resigned, the county hired an outside firm to perform an audit, which they said should start next week.

“The scope of the audit will be counting the monies; we will also ask them to look at our policies and procedures, when it comes to collecting money in that office,” Camp said.

Camp said the county first started hearing about concerns in the tax claims office earlier this summer. People who live in Beaver County and paid their late taxes say checks weren’t clearing their accounts quickly.

Then a county employee went to the Human Resources office and said they were not getting deposit slips from the bank after cash and checks were collected and submitted to be deposited.

“Employees just kind of being vigilant, they saw something that didn’t look quite right, and they reported it,” District Attorney Nate Bible said.

Bible said county detectives are working on their own investigation, and charges will be filed, likely after the audit.

“When that final number comes down, I’m sure there’s going to be some outrage from the public as to how much money, exactly, is missing,” Bible said.

The county is actively looking for a new chief assessor, but the offices are still open.

“This is something we have to work on diligently to find someone to replace them to represent us in court cases, settlements, whatever it may be,” Camp said.

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