By Leisa Zigman, I-Team Reporter
O'Fallon, IL (KSDK) - Hundreds of people in St. Charles County recently received surprise bills from the state of Missouri claiming they didn't pay enough sales tax on their vehicles.
Many were shocked to learn they owed hundreds of dollars and they had only two weeks to pay up! When taxpayers couldn't get straight answers from government officials, they turned to the I-Team's Leisa Zigman to find out what was going on.
Ken Knopp was one of the residents to receive a letter from Missouri's Department of Revenue. The letter stated he owed $738 for his three-year-old 2008 motorcycle and his 2009 truck. He thought the state made a mistake since he registered his vehicles at the O'Fallon Licensing Office right after he purchased them.
"I paid the taxes that they said I owed," Knopp said. "They absolutely said I paid in full. They gave me my license. They titled my vehicle. They said, 'you're good.'"
The Department of Revenue letter stated he didn't pay enough money. It turns out, hundreds of drivers in St. Charles County got the same letter.
It's coming to light now after the City of O'Fallon asked for an audit earlier this year. The state went back three years and found, Knopp, who has a St. Peters address, actually lives in O'Fallon and should have paid a higher sales tax rate.
"It is very possible some of the maps being used by the local office, maybe even the state, weren't updated as they should have been with all the annexation that took place and the changes that occurred literally on the fly sometimes," said Tom Drabelle, O'Fallon's Director of Public Relations.
So, which data was wrong? Was it the City of O'Fallon, St. Charles County or the State of Missouri?
"We believe it was the state's data that was incorrect," Drabelle said.
A lot of finger pointing is going on between government agencies, but no one is willing to say its data needs significant updating.
"Based on information provided by taxpayers at the time of these transactions, the Department of Revenue assesses what we deem to be the appropriate amount of tax due," said Ted Farnen, the Director of Communications for the Missouri Department of Revenue. "On occasion, additional information comes to light that determines that the original amount was inaccurate, at which point we reconcile the amount with the taxpayer."
Perhaps the confusion is because Knopp's mailing address is St. Peters, yet he lives in O'Fallon. Documents obtained by the I-Team show St. Charles County had him listed as an O'Fallon resident since before 2000. So the question remains: is the city data wrong or the states?
Officials with the O'Fallon license bureau are still trying to determine who is at fault.
"It is a mess and it is frustrating," said Terri Harris, the contract agent for the O'Fallon license office.
Harris, who spent more than 18 years at another licensing office, said she has never seen anything like this. She was only in charge of the O'Fallon office for a few months when the city asked for the state audit.
"I know that the reporting lies somewhere between the City of O'Fallon, the county and the state, but none of it is done through the license offices," she said.
Knopp, who spent 20 years in the military, now works in retail. He said if a customer was undercharged for a product, he wouldn't go back and ask the customer to make up the difference.
"You have two public government entities fighting over whose fault it is, and whose fault it is not. I can tell you for sure whose fault it is not, it is not us," he said.
Knopp said he's not trying to get out of paying his fare share, but he questions the accuracy of what he calls the government's fuzzy math.
What are they going to do next? Are they going to figure out that my property taxes are wrong?" he said.
Regardless of where the mistake was made, more than a thousand St. Charles County residents will ultimately have to pay.
"It took them three years to figure out that I owed it. I figure, it'll take me three years to pay them back," Knopp said.
He is now paying the state $25 each month.
State officials point out some St. Charles County residents received refunds because the audit found they over paid. They said they refunded $51,000 to more than 400 residents.
KSDK