Most Buffalo Township residents probably were happy to hear that in 2006 the township would be "fervently" pursing people who haven't been paying their township wage tax. Indeed, that is good news.

But township residents who have been paying their tax should be asking why the supervisors weren't so committed to that pursuit in the past. It is unfair to the residents who act responsibly and pay their tax year after year that others have not paid the tax and have not been actively pursued to the degree possible.

The unpaid tax totals $500,000, half of which is paid to the Freeport School District. Carla Garia, township tax collector, said Friday that the tax revenue in question is for 2004 and prior years.

"I'll be darned to tolerate scofflaws," said Dan Przybylek, chairman of the township board of supervisors, at a meeting Wednesday. But the fact is that he and the other supervisors already have done so, despite the good intentions now.

The fact that the township already has received responses from an initial mailing to nine tax delinquents is proof of what the municipality could have accomplished if its new commitment had been implemented sooner.

While it's true that the township probably won't be able to collect 100 percent of what is due, it's possible that the amount eventually collected will be enough to resurface an additional section of road or accomplish another kind of project.

Municipalities throughout the county should visit the delinquent wage tax issue to determine whether they too have been remiss on delinquent collections. If so, they also should make 2006 the year that the delinquents stop getting a free ride.

Hopefully Przybylek will remain unrelenting in his wish to get the tax issue resolved, and hopefully the Freeport School District will become more interested in the issue also.