"Here, look at this," said a clerk at the Beaver County prothonotary's office, pointing at a beer case-size box on a shelf.

She pointed at the return address: "Portnoff Law Associates."

"That was one day's filings," she said. "We use it to store Christmas decorations now."

The box illustrates one of the hidden costs of Portnoff, a private law firm that collects delinquent taxes for Aliquippa and Aliquippa School District.

Portnoff relies heavily on filing court actions to get people to pay their taxes. That makes a lot of work for the prothonotary's office, which handles paperwork for civil cases.

"We have three to 3¹/₂ times as many filings as other fourth-class counties," Prothonotary Nancy Werme said. "That's primarily because of Portnoff."

So when 14 Aliquippa property owners sued Portnoff last week, saying its fees are outrageous and its tactics deceptive, the staff of Werme's department did all but stand and cheer.

The filing got a place of honor next to the copier, sitting out so reporters would not have to dig through stacks of paper to find it.

The case focuses on the firm's fees and how it applies them, with a six-page litany of claims about $150 fees for form letters and unannounced fees for telephone calls, among others. Portnoff leaders resolutely deny the charges.

Those issues will be settled in court eventually, but the existence of the case has energized Portnoff critics, who have wondered since 1998, when Portnoff was hired by the city and school district, whether using a private firm to collect public taxes is a good idea.

Mike Kohlmann is among those critics. As the county's chief assessor, he runs the Tax Claim Bureau, the public body that collects delinquent taxes under normal circumstances.

He contends that while the tax claim bureau may be slower than Portnoff at collecting, it is still effective. He said that of an average of about 9,000 properties listed as delinquent each year, about 250 end up going up for sale. And the system works without saddling the delinquent taxpayers with hundreds or even thousands in extra legal fees, as Portnoff can.

Kohlmann said that while the Tax Claim Bureau does take a 5 percent commission from what it collects, it also charges the delinquent taxpayer 9 percent annual interest.

Finally, Kohlmann said, properties going through the Tax Claim Bureau stay under the original owners' names, even if they go unsold through an upset sale and a tax sale and wind up in the county's repository of unsold properties. That means the original owner is liable for any accidents that happen on the property.

An upset sale is the first attempt by the Tax Claim Bureau to sell a property. The buyer takes on all unpaid taxes attached to the property.

As a private company, Portnoff has to use a sheriff's sale to satisfy claims against a property. And when property goes unsold at a sheriff's sale, ownership and liability both pass to whoever holds the lien, in this case, the city and school district.

That's exactly what has happened in the case of 30-some Aliquippa properties, which are now the joint property of the city and school district.

On March 15, the two entities will hold a public auction for 10 of the properties. City Manager Tom Stoner said they were waiving the back taxes owed, hoping to get whatever they can.

"As far as I'm concerned, if we can get $1 for them and get them back on the tax rolls, I'd say, 'Here! We don't want them,' " Stoner said.

Stoner said that if the auction was successful, they would probably try to do the same with the rest of the properties they own. Right now, they represent a financial loss -- the city and school district are getting no taxes from them, and have liability insurance covering them.

Despite the existence of those properties, though, Aliquippa city and school district have both renewed their contracts with Portnoff, perhaps because, according to Alan Portnoff, collections have risen from 80 percent when his firm was hired to 90 percent now.

Portnoff said his firm, which has been in the tax collection business for 18 years and represents more than 60 municipalities and more than 30 school districts, has a sterling record for satisfying clients.

"I don't think we've ever lost a contract," he said.

In general, Portnoff was unruffled by the heat his firm is taking, mostly because he believes its approach is truly the right and fair way to collect taxes.

The heart of the matter is the 5 percent commission taken by the Tax Claim Bureau. Portnoff does not take any commission, making money instead from the fees charged to the delinquent taxpayers.

And while the Tax Claim Bureau charges 9 percent interest, Portnoff charges 10, he said, all of it going back to the municipality or school district.

"The question is, who gets squeezed," Portnoff said. "Do you squeeze the delinquent taxpayer, or do you squeeze the people paying in a timely manner," who end up with higher tax rates to make up for delinquencies?

Portnoff disputed the claim that delinquent taxpayers automatically get hit with fees. He said Portnoff policy is to issue a warning, with the first filing and $150 fee coming after 30 days if the taxes are not paid.

"Fifty percent are paid with no legal fees assessed," he said.

And Portnoff's approach has the support of the state Legislature, he said. Private tax collection was specifically allowed under 1996 legislation, which was later expanded to cover such charges as water and sewer fees.

Late last year, the Legislature established that counties could have a firm such as Portnoff's take over tax claim bureau functions altogether.

As for the unwanted properties now in the possession of Aliquippa city and school district, Portnoff lead attorney Dawn Schmidt said 30-some properties was actually not much to accumulate in seven years of tax collection. If the auction works, the problem has been dealt with, and, in any case, the city and school district have control of what happens.

Schmidt said Portnoff properties didn't have to go to sheriff's sale. If the city and school district don't think they'll sell, they can stay in a state of limbo, much like properties in the county repository.

Schmidt did, however, say the firm is absolutely guilty of one criticism leveled at it.

The box holding the prothonotary's office Christmas decorations is real -- it did come to the office full of Portnoff filings. And, yes, Portnoff does generate a large amount of paperwork.

"We do work hard," she said. "We do prepare a lot of documents. I can see from their perspective that it is a lot of work. ...

"But we've got to do our job."