AUSTIN CO. REQUIRED TO PAY BACK STATE OVER $250,000 FOR SALES TAX REBATE MISTAKE

  

Austin County will be paying the state back hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next few years, thanks to a mistake by the State Comptroller’s Office.

Early in 2019, the county received a little over $250,000 in sales tax rebates from the Comptroller’s Office.

The problem: that payment was not supposed to go to Austin County, but rather the City of Austin.

The county will indeed be required to pay it back, and, after discussing and approving action in commissioners court Monday, will do so over a 32-month timeframe.

At Monday’s meeting, County Judge Tim Lapham said the $250,000 mistake is especially problematic since it came early last year, and the county based its budget and tax rate around that extra funding.  He said the county’s budget is now $250,000 short.

According to county officials, this is not the first time for an accident like this to happen: County Auditor Billy Doherty told commissioners the county still owes $95,000 from an overpayment several years ago.  The county is also paying that back monthly, until 2024.  In total, the county is paying back just over $345,000 back to the state.