BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County officials discovered a calculation error, so now they're going to issue corrections to any impacted 2020 tax bills.
According to a statement on Erie County's website on Saturday night, Erie County residents will receive corrected tax bills, and people who overpaid on their taxes already will receive refunds.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz issued a statement Saturday night on Facebook.
"Errors such as this are unacceptable. As such, a team has been working throughout the weekend to address this issue and make sure it doesn’t happen again. I apologize to all county taxpayers affected by this issue," he said.
The error involved college chargeback totals to municipalities, which was described as "costs incurred by municipalities when Erie County residents attend community colleges in other counties."
The corrected tax statements will come from the Department of Real Property Tax Services.
"When this came to our attention, we acted to correct the error, ensure that all municipalities were aware, and begin the process to remedy any overcharges," Director of Budget and Management Robert Keating said in a statement.
In its statement, Erie County said "the total amount overcharged countywide at the time of the error’s discovery was $4.4 million."
It amounts to a refund of roughly 6.79 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.
"The Department of Real Property Tax Services is working to make sure the new, correct bills are distributed as soon as possible and that any residents who have already paid their taxes and are owed a refund will receive it expeditiously," Erie County Director of Real Property Tax Services Scott Bylewski said in a statement.