Bethel City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday to authorize reimbursements to Bethel property owners who the city overcharged on real estate taxes for more than a decade, because of an error in the city’s tax code.
City Attorney Patty Burley discovered the problem and says the city overcharged about 160 transactions, collecting more than $100,000 in excess charges since 2002. The most the city could have overcharged someone, she says, is $1,200.
Anyone overcharged will receive a refund with interest at 3.5 percent.
People can start applying for refunds as soon as the city posts the claim forms on their website and makes them available at the city finance office.
Anna Rose MacArthur is a reporter at KYUK in Bethel.
