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Some people who don’t live in Olympia were charged, and some who do live in the city weren’t.
It’s unclear how many people were incorrectly charged, but the problem was fixed last year, said Brad Benfield, spokesman for the state Department of Licensing. Jane Kirkemo, the city’s finance director and treasurer for the Olympia Transportation Benefit District, said she also didn’t know how many people were incorrectly charged.
The issue came to light in the Auditor’s Office’s yearly audit of the city, which was released in September. The city received a management letter, essentially a warning that the auditor could find fault on the following year’s audit if instructions go unheeded.
“The city was aware of the problem and has worked with DOL but has yet to resolve the issue,” states the letter, dated Sept. 13. “Currently, the city does not know if all its customers that should be billed are actually billed. Similarly, the city only knows if it improperly bills a citizen if the citizen contacts the city about the billing error.”
Kirkemo said the Department of Licensing is responsible for collecting the car-tab revenues.
“Why should we get the management letter for something we don’t have control over?” she said.
Benfield said the system that the Department of Licensing uses had some addresses listed in more than one jurisdiction, creating the problem.
“It was not an Olympia-specific issue,” he said.
“We reprogrammed the system and it was fixed in April of 2010. That appears to have really taken care of that particular issue.”
He said it affected a small group of people.
Kirkemo said she became aware of the problem last year when she and City Manager Steve Hall weren’t charged the $20 fee. She said she made sure her fee was paid. Kirkemo also convened a meeting of the Department of Licensing and other transportation benefit districts to discuss the problem, she said in a letter to the Auditor’s Office.
Six people asked for a refund, saying they were incorrectly charged, said Mindy Chambers, spokeswoman for the Auditor’s Office.
Kirkemo responded in a letter to the Auditor’s Office that the transportation benefit district “considers this matter closed.”
But Chambers said the Auditor’s Office has recommended that the district cross-reference a list of who has been charged with department of licensing data to rule out discrepancies.
As it is now, it’s up to the driver who gets the car tab bill to find any discrepancies and report them.
The Olympia City Council voted to create the transportation benefit district in 2009 to generate about $600,000 per year for transportation projects. The district is a separate entity from the City of Olympia, but its board is made up of all seven City Council members, and it is chaired by Councilwoman Jeannine Roe.
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
