It was early in Richard Nixon\u2019s first term when Margaret Kennedy was first asked to run for tax collector.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother-in-law lived very close to us,\u201d Margaret recalled this week. \u201cShe was a Democratic committeewoman in Union Township. She said, \u2018We need to fill the ballot and need someone to run for tax collector.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret said she\u2019d have to check with her husband. They were building a house and had two young children. The answer was a firm no.<\/p>\n
Four years later, she was asked again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he was going to say no, but he said, \u2018Yes, go for it,\u2019\u201d Margaret said. \u201cI was surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n
She got on the spring 1973 primary ballot and was elected that fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went door to door because I was running against the incumbent,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople would say, \u2018You must really want this job,\u2019 because I was five months pregnant. I won by 16 votes. If I didn\u2019t put myself out there, I wouldn\u2019t have won.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her term began Jan. 1, 1974. It wouldn\u2019t be her last. Kennedy was reelected a dozen times over 48 years, most recently in 2021.<\/p>\n
Margaret, 81, will retire when her term expires at the end of December. She believes her 51-year tenure is the longest of any municipal tax collector in Berks County.<\/p>\n
Her career began before the personal computer era, and she marvels at how she worked in the analog age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to type the invoices \u2014 name, address, amount,\u201d she said. \u201cAll the information. And then type the envelopes. \u201c<\/p>\n
She stuffed and mailed the envelopes\u2014numbering more than 1,500\u2014within 30 days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know how I did it. I had a baby plus two other young children.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no formal training. She contacted the president of the Pennsylvania State Tax Collectors\u2019 Association, who steered her to resources. She later joined both the state and county associations.<\/p>\n
Like many municipal tax collectors in Pennsylvania, she did the part-time job from home, while also working for years as a licensed practical nurse and phlebotomist.<\/p>\n
\u201cJokingly, I would say, I can either take your blood or your money,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Union Township collects only real estate taxes, and many homeowners pay through their mortgage companies. But some still prefer to hand their payments directly to the tax collector.<\/p>\n
During the COVID-19 shutdown, she met residents at the end of her driveway along Geigertown Road.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wore a mask and gloves, went to the car, took the payment, processed it and brought it back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Margaret considered running again but realized she would be 85 when the term ended.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m gonna miss it. I like the people I serve,\u201d she said, noting strong relationships with township staff over the years.<\/p>\n
Erika Pauley, unopposed in November, will succeed her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe township found someone capable and willing to run,\u201d Margaret said. \u201cThat makes me feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was early in Richard Nixon\u2019s first term when Margaret Kennedy was first asked to run for tax…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,28,128,130,129,24641],"class_list":{"0":"post-41236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-reading-city","13":"tag-reading-city-headlines","14":"tag-reading-city-news","15":"tag-union-township"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}