Messy Transition to New Property Tax Collection System Leads to Overcharging, Unforeseen Fees, Amnesty Program Errors and More; Roach Apologizes
A messy transition to a new collections system at the Office of the Lieutenant Governor's Real Property Tax Division has led to overcharging of certain property owners, unforeseen charges for others and errors in the amnesty program that cause bills to not reflect savings the program offers.
2022-06-09 12:25:44 - VI News Staff
These are just some of the issues caused by the system, with another error being found in the HomeStead Tax Credit program where previously qualified property owners have received tax bills where the credit is either not shown or applied.
The OLG on Wednesday evening issued a release divulging the extent of the problem, with Lieutenant Governor Tregenza Roach describing the matter as "growing pains" while apologizing for the issues. The new system was implemented in May, according to the OLG.
“What we are witnessing with the new system is basically growing pains, but this new system will result in the overall improvement of the collection system and increased revenues to our government," Mr. Roach said. "We are asking taxpayers to bear with us as we work through the kinks and rectify their issues one by one. I sincerely apologize for the inconveniences."
The press release from the OLG follows Consortium reporting on the issues after multiple residents reached out to the publication about exorbitant year-over-year increases to their property tax bills.
Regarding increases in property tax bills, the release says "some properties have been reassessed based on improvements to the property over the period 2018-2022, verified through OLG field inspections, and on sales data reflecting the value of property sales in their area." It adds that "any reassessment would result in an increase in the assessed value of a property. The new system is capturing this assessment data that may not have been factored into a prior year billing."
Property owners appear to have been caught off guard by these additional charges for assessments, and the release gives no indication that notification was provided ahead of time.