Terence M. Whalen, 59, the longtime tax collector for Parsippany-Troy Hills, was found deceased at Town Hall on Wednesday, September 23. A custodian discovered him unresponsive in his office and called police at about 10:30 a.m., and he was later pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Parsippany Focus, Whalen had served as the township's certified tax collector for more than 18 years, a tenure that placed him at the head of the municipality's Division of Collections. As reported by Patch, Whalen had held the tax collector post since 2008, and authorities arrived Wednesday to find him unresponsive inside his Town Hall office.
No information regarding the cause of death was available, per the same account from Parsippany Focus. Police said no foul play was suspected as of Thursday afternoon, though details about the circumstances of Whalen's death had not been released, the station's report notes.
A Familiar Face in Parsippany's Tax Office
Known to many simply as Terry, Whalen was a graduate of William Paterson University, according to Parsippany Focus. Over his lengthy career overseeing the Division of Collections, he was responsible for a broad slate of municipal duties: preparing and mailing property tax bills, collecting current and delinquent taxes, conducting the township's annual tax sale, and handling water and sewer billing and collections.
Whalen was found inside Parsippany-Troy Hills Town Hall, located at 1001 Parsippany Boulevard, the same building where he had spent nearly two decades managing the township's finances. The custodian's 10:30 a.m. call to police set off the response that led to his discovery, according to the earlier-cited report from Patch.
What Remains Unknown
As of Thursday afternoon, investigators had not disclosed a cause of death, and police maintained that foul play was not suspected. Parsippany Focus indicated it would continue to update the story as more information becomes available.
