By Paige Smaga
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. — Officials are working to figure out the best way to solve a clerical error in the 2010 tax bills, as residents were incorrectly charged for fire district taxes.
When the Town Board approved the budget, the charge for fire services was not separated into each district that serves the town, but rather grouped together under the general tax fund. In addition, Stone Bank residents were charged twice for fire district taxes, once by paying the charge included in the general tax, and again as a specific district charge.
Clerk/Treasurer Jo Ann Lesser said some people could see a refund of less than $20 while others would be a few hundred.
She said a resident uncovered the problem and brought it to the attention of Administrator Jeff Herrmann.
The board weighed two options Monday night. One would be to refund only those in Stone Bank because they were most affected and saw the majority of the incorrect charges.
The other option would be to go through the list of taxpayers and determine who needs a refund and who owes money, Lesser said.
The question before the board is whether to refund only Stone Bank residents who were charged twice, or to rectify the incorrect charges on all town residents’ tax bills.
“Some of them have less than $1 (overcharged); do we spend more on postage than we would the refund?” asked Supervisor John Koepke.
Supervisor Janis Husak suggested that those with small refunds could just have the amount credited to their tax bill. Supervisor Brian Wiemer said the town incurred the mistake and should fix it, no matter what - but then said he needed more information before choosing an option.
The board asked Lesser to contact Waukesha County to see whether it is possible to single out the Stone Bank residents, and then the board could see how many residents are left that were incorrectly charged.
The board tabled action until more information is available.
Officials also discussed why Town of Oconomowoc taxes are split among districts instead of going into one main fund and being divided equally among the districts.
The town is served by four fire districts: Stone Bank, Okauchee, Ashippun and City of Oconomowoc. An option would be that each resident would pay taxes for all fire districts that serve their area.
The total owed would be decided based on their assessed value.
Koepke said he would not want to be paying for a fire station in one district while he lives in another.
However, putting everything into one fire district fund on the tax bill would avoid the same problem in the future.
The board will investigate further before planning the 2011 budget.
Copyright 2010 Journal Sentinel Inc.