Last week, 21 News reported that Hubbard City and Township residents will have a higher property tax bill than usual in the second half of 2024 due to an error with the auditor's office.

Now, Trumbull County Auditor Martha Yoder is explaining exactly what happened and what caused this error.

As previously reported, while the levies for Hubbard Schools had been included in the tax calculation, the millage was incorrect because the value for one class of property was entered incorrectly meaning residents had underpaid on their taxes.

More specifically, the amount not collected is equal to about $190 per $100,000 in property value.

Yoder explained that accountants with the Auditor's Office utilize spreadsheets to calculate values for its taxing district. In Hubbard's case, the value for one class of property had been mistyped and by the time the accountant realized her mistake, tax bills had already been sent out.

"When [the accountant] discovered the error, she reported it to me immediately [and] we took action to get things corrected and get that ball rolling," Yoder said.

Yoder went on to say when bills for the second half of the year go out, there will be a message explaining the situation.

Hubbard Township Trustee Jason Tedrow tells 21 News this error is concerning because it could potentially cause new levies in the township and even renewals of existing ones to fail.

Tedrow say because this error was not communicated to residents sooner, many have been blindsided by a higher bill than they were expecting during a time when property values have already increased leading to higher property taxes.

Tedrow is concerned that this could cause residents to lose trust in these levies and vote against them.

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