Notices have correct fees but wrong parcel ID numbers. Officials are sending out new notices.
By MELIA BOWIE
Published July 30, 2003
NEW PORT RICHEY - About 7,000 notices sent by the city telling residents what they would pay in proposed street light and fire service fees are wrong.
"We sent out one set, and I hate to admit it, but there was a minor mistake that we need to correct," said Mary Healey, billing and collection supervisor for the city.
Healey said her staff mailed out an initial round of notices Friday with each resident's address, parcel ID number and the amount they would pay in fees.
"Everybody got one," she said.
The amount the resident would pay is correct.
But the parcel ID on the notice is incorrect. The format used by consultant Burton & Associates to compile the data from the Pasco County property appraiser accidentally shifted down a line.
The result? "Yours would have your neighbor's parcel ID number," Healey said.
Or in the case of City Council member Bob Langford, the parcel ID number for someone he has never met on Illinois Avenue.
Langford got his notice Saturday, and "the physical address and the land parcel number, they do not jive," he said.
Healey said her staff began sending out revised street light fee notices Tuesday morning. Revised fire fee notices will go out today.
"Some people were upset because their's wasn't right," she said.
Langford, who is strongly opposed to the proposed fees, said he worries the slip could have implications."I would hate to see lawsuits from the residents," he said.
A City Council vote on the proposed fees is set for Aug. 19.
