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County tax error may hurt low-budget cities
By Steve Enders
Accounting errors made by Santa Clara County over the last three years may mean trouble for a handful of small cities, including Saratoga.
The county admitted Sept. 17 that its auditors have found $2 million in property tax-backed overpayments made to four cities since 1996. The money comes from two complex programs from which cities collect tax money from the county.
To get the money back, the county might ask the cities to pay up, and Saratoga could owe as much as $850,000 to the county.
According to City Manager Larry Perlin, Supervisor Joseph Simitian told him that the county has known about the error for a couple of weeks, and Simitian added that the board of supervisors was attempting to solve the problem.
Simitian serves the affected West Valley cities of Cupertino, Los Altos Hills and Saratoga. Monte Sereno was also informed it may owe some money.
He said this discovery is the "third shoe to drop" since the county found errors with tax allocations to local school districts three years ago and then to the county fire district just over a year ago.
He said other revelations may come still, as his group of auditors wraps up their inquiry into past tax allocations made by a previously short-staffed, county tax apportionment unit.
Perlin said that Simitian promised he would ask his colleagues to acknowledge the error and forgive the debt in an upcoming closed session meeting.
Simitian said the session would probably take place in early October.
Additionally, Perlin said Simitian assured him that the county would not try to get the $850,000 by going after the money the city was awarded just two weeks ago in a tax dispute that was settled by arbitration in favor of Saratoga.
In that case, Saratoga was awarded $730,000 from the county in tax allocations. It was ruled that the city should have continued receiving this money after its citizens voted down the city utility users tax in 1996. The county had withheld the allocation.
Perlin said Simitian told him that the county would continue to recognize the judges' decision as binding, and would not seek to recover that money which is owed to the city.
As for the money Saratoga may owe the county, Simitian said he's "cautiously optimistic" the board will see things his way.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
