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Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette Logo Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette

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Overpayment bill advances in Senate

(Feb. 23, 2017) The legislation to allow municipalities, like Snow Hill, that received an overpayment of local taxes to keep the misdirected funds advanced to third reading in the State Senate after it advanced out of committee, last week.
The Budget and Taxation committee voted unanimously to give the legislation a favorable review, with amendments offered by the committee.
The bill also picked up a sponsor, with Sen. Addie Eckardt (R-37), representing Wicomico, Talbot, Dorchester and Caroline counties, joining the effort.
In the report, Eckardt and Sen. Nancy King (D-39) both offered amendments to the bill, and both were accepted. It is not made clear in the report which senator is responsible for either amendment, but the first was to include Eckardt as a sponsor to the legislation.
The second amendment, along with a minor text change, includes a provision requiring the Comptroller return any payments made by any municipality towards the debt.
Trish Goodsell, assistant to the town manager of Snow Hill, confirmed the town has not made any payments toward the debt. However, the towns, at the time the apparent error was discovered, were granted a generous repayment schedule of about 17 years total to repay the money, with no payments due for a decade.
Snow Hill owes the state about $18,000, according to the Comptroller’s office.
The county seat is the only municipality in Worcester to owe money, as Berlin is owed about $135,000, Ocean City is owed more than half of that at about $77,000 and Pocomoke City is owed a little less than half that amount at approximately $31,000.
According to Comptroller Peter Franchot’s Press Secretary Alan Brody, the payments were remitted to the municipalities that were owed money almost immediately. He said he couldn’t guarantee all of money had actually been deposited, but the process of refunding the overpayments had long since been completed.
The bill now proceeds to third reading in the senate. If it passes, it then goes to the House of Delegates for a new round of hearings and possible amendments.
The House of Delegates is working its own version of the bill, HB1433.