Tax collector Margaret Cousler has paid $88,791.63 to Springettsbury Township, funds that municipal officials say she didn't turn over from two years ago.

Cousler sent the certified check to the township last month and noted in a memo that the money has been in "an interest-bearing Springettsbury Township account the entire time," according to court documents.

"They wanted the money, and I gave it to them," Cousler said Wednesday evening. "They'll have to take care of all the obligations that are with it."

Those obligations would include such things as refunds, she said. She'll give the township a list of what has to be done.

While the money has been turned over, wrangling continues between the township and Cousler, who won re-election Tuesday night. She was the sole candidate on the ballot.

Springettsbury Township solicitor Charles Rausch sent a letter to Cousler last month stating that the township expects reimbursement for the $22,817.50 to audit her accounts as well as the costs of a court filing, according to court records. Rausch said he was putting Cousler "on notice."

The township would have to file a separate lawsuit to seek the money spent on the audit, he said.

Taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill for the audit, which was needed to get the tax collector to do what she was required, said Don Bishop, vice chairman of the board of supervisors.

"That should not be our expense," he said.

Cousler said she doesn't feel that she owes

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that money for the audit. There was never any agreement that she would pay for it.

Cousler has said that she couldn't use her hands for several months in 2007. She couldn't perform daily tasks, such as writing or dressing herself. She gave the township and school districts their money as fast as she could sign her name, she said.

The longtime tax collector said she's still in the process of resolving the money with the school districts.

Meanwhile, Cousler has filed a lawsuit against the township over an ordinance that supervisors adopted regarding compensation for the tax collector.

Starting in 2010, the tax collector would have to pay for postage and printing out of the 1 percent commission, she said.

Cousler's attorney, Robert Buzzendore, and township solicitor Charles Rausch disagree in court filings whether local tax collection laws require that expenditures for printing, postage and other business items must be paid for in addition to compensation.

"It's not being nasty or trying to get back at anybody," Cousler said. "We're just trying to make everything fair."

SCHOOL DISTRICT CASES

Springettsbury Township tax collector Margaret Cousler said she's in the process of resolving money issues with the school districts.

Central York School District has claimed that Cousler hasn't turned over $22,328.55 of the real estate collections from July 15, 2007, through Jan. 16, 2008. She also was late turning over remittances to the district during that time, resulting in potential lost earnings of about $52,389, the district says.

York Suburban School District has claimed that Cousler was late with remittances from July 1, 2007, through Jan. 16, 2008, resulting in about $31,550 in potential lost earnings.