BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - A rebate check recently issued to thousands of Erie County residents is legitimate, according to county officials.
In January, a technical error in Erie County’s Department of Real Property Tax Services was discovered that led to the county overcharging residents on their property taxes in the cities of Buffalo, Lackawanna, and Tonawanda. Residents were also overcharged in major towns.
The error was related to college chargebacks. Those are costs incurred by municipalities when a resident attends a community college in another county.
All told, the mistake netted Erie County $4.4 million, which is why the 190,000 residents received a rebate check of anywhere between $5 and $20. The refund is 6.79 cents per $1,000 of the assessed value of a home.
Still, there are some residents who were afraid it is a scam and have reached out to county leaders. About 900 people sent the check back to the county out of concerns it was a scam.
The error also cost all taxpayers in Erie County. Dixon said the total cost to fix the error was $205,000. Of that total, $84,000 was to account for the cost of postage. She said that because there are some people sending the checks back to the county, there may be added cost.
Anyone with further questions regarding the overcharge is asked to contact Erie County at 858-6954 or by email at EC-taxrefunds@erie.gov
“Erie County has been absorbing more of the college chargebacks in our budgets in recent years, both as a way to help municipalities with the burden and also to help the county stay under the state-imposed tax cap,” Robert Keating, Director of Budget and Management, said in January. “This year, a technical error resulted in the omission of legislature-approved measures in the Adopted 2020 Budget to further lower the chargeback total to municipalities, and as a result a higher, incorrect number was included in the 2020 tax bills. 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.”