Past due tax notices mailing a computer mistake
A computer error in the Fayette County Tax Claim Bureau is the culprit behind a mass mailing of past due notices for 2001 county and township taxes. Tax claim bureau director Donna Yauger said Monday that when the office switched computer companies, every property owner was sent past due notices, whether they had paid or not.
“It was a computer error. Everybody got a notice and not everybody should have,” Yauger said. The notices were sent out via registered mail.
Yauger said anyone who has already paid the 2001 taxes does not need to be concerned, and they can simply call the office to ensure that their payment has indeed been received.
“People can call for piece of mind,” Yauger said. She said a lot of people have called to have their payment verified.
The computer glitch was more than likely a one-time occurrence, Yauger said and probably won’t happen again. Yauger said the cost of sending out the notices, which was $4.42 each, was budgeted.
A spokesperson in the office of Fayette County Controller Mark Roberts said the Tax Claim office has $110,000 budgeted this year for postage costs. For the first six months of the year, the office spent $10,055.77 on postage, $9,234.31 of which was spent in June alone.
Roberts’ spokesperson said additional notices may have been sent out in July as well but the cost figure will not be available until the end of the month.
If someone has received a past due notice in error, it isn’t necessary to go into the Tax Claim Bureau office to check the status of the taxes, a telephone call is sufficient, Yauger said.
The Tax Claim Bureau can be reached at 724-430-1208.