A large number of Greenwood citizens evidently have paid a bit more than necessary for their car tags in the past year.
But the individual overcharge might amount to the price of a gallon of gas, more or less.
Leflore County Tax Assessor Leroy Ware and District 1 Supervisor Sam Abraham on Monday ex-plained to the rest of the Board of Supervisors that some 10,000 motor vehicle tags were priced using an incorrect millage rate.
Even though they say the mistake happened on the state level, they also say the county has to figure out how to address it.
“We’ve got to find a way to give owners of cars inside the city limit credit,” Abraham said. “We’ve charged everybody who bought a car tag the millage rate of the county.”
A mill is one-tenth of one cent. The city’s millage rate for vehicles is 69.54, and the county’s is 76.04. The rate along with a vehicle’s taxable value is used to calculate tag payments.
Ware said the discrepancy as found when an individual came in to renew tags and complained that they cost more this year than last. Upon investigation, it was discovered that residents living inside the city limits were charged the same millage rate as residents of the county when they should have been charged a different rate.
Ware said the Chancery Clerk’s Office sent information to the Mississippi Department of Revenue, and the incorrect millage rate was applied there and then sent back to the Tax Assessor’s Office.
“Originally, when we got some information back from the state, it looked like it was over 20,000 incorrect transactions,” Ware said.
But a computer programmer for the state studied the files and was able to determine that there were only about 10,000 — still a clerical nightmare.
The Department of Revenue is working with the Tax Assessor’s Office to break down the information and determine exactly who should receive a refund or a credit.
Ware said the amount overpaid could range anywhere from less than a dollar to a few dollars, depending on the value of the car.
It’s possible that the cost of giving refunds could cost the county more than the total amount of excess funds collected.
“Once the programmer gets all this information, he’ll give it to the Board of Supervisors, and they will determine whether it’s feasible to correct the problem by issuing individual refunds or some other way,” Ware said.
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
