Erie County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz commented today on the news that certain Erie County ("County") property tax bills produced and distributed by the County's Department of Real Property Tax Services were incorrect.

Late on Friday, January 23, 2009, the Comptroller received a phone call from Lackawanna Mayor Norman Polanski concerning the County property tax bills for the City of Lackawanna. Mayor Polanski indicated to Poloncarz that based on prior year bills, there appeared to be an erroneous, higher charge for Lackawanna.

"Following Mayor Polanski's call, I immediately directed my staff to look into the property tax bill situation, including determining whether the bills were incorrect, and if so, why," said Poloncarz. "My office determined this morning that in fact, mistakes were made by the Department of Real Property Tax Services "(Real Property") in establishing the tax warrants for the property tax bills for 2009. That mistake resulted in incorrect individual bills being produced for property owners in the impacted cities and towns."

The Comptroller's Office determined that for some reason, Real Property incorrectly charged 25 of the 28 towns/cities in Erie County on their 2009 tax warrants for the community college chargeback amount. The Comptroller's Office notes that the Director of Real Property Tax Services has already accepted responsibility for the mistake.

Poloncarz said: "My office has been advised that Real Property has made the decision today to immediately reprint new bills for the smallest towns and has advised those towns not to distribute the erroneous bills. I also understand that Real Property is in fact, printing new bills for the City of Lackawanna."

The Comptroller noted that because nearly all the 2009 tax warrants were previously signed and certified by the Legislature based on incorrect community college chargeback numbers, it may be necessary for new warrants to be signed and issued with the correct data, as well as potentially new property tax bills for all municipalities. Accordingly, his office has asked the County's Department of Law to investigate those issues.

The Comptroller's Office's review found that the community college chargeback amounts on the tax warrants for the Towns of Tonawanda, Wales and West Seneca are accurate, and the rest of the cities and towns were inaccurate. The incorrect and correct amounts are identified per municipality on the attached schedule.

Poloncarz concluded: "As the taxpayers' independent watchdog I will continue to monitor financial matters and report to the public as necessary."

For a complete list of impacted cities and towns please click here: http://www.erie.gov/comptroller/press/pr012609.asp.