YOUNGSTOWN — Some Mahoning County property tax payers made more than $631,000, collectively, in library levy payments they shouldn’t have been charged between 2015 and 2018.

According to Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham, about 3,300 parcels in nine taxing districts were erroneously billed under the 2014 renewal levy of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

Certain property owners in Mahoning County, but within the school boundaries of Alliance City School District, Columbiana Exempted School District, Hubbard Exempted School District and Leetonia Exempted Village School District, should not have been billed for the levy — the parcels were billed an average of $44 to $50 erroneously each year.

There is no method for recovering the taxes, according to Meacham’s office, but the error has been corrected for 2019.

“In consultation with the Ohio Department of Taxation, this is a ‘fundamental error.’ By rule, the procedure for correcting a fundamental error is to correct the records going forward. There is no provision for correcting past taxing periods, making refunds or providing credits,” a news release from Meacham’s office states.

Anyone who would like to talk about the issue can call the office at 330-740-2010, Ext. 7571.

The issue was brought to light when a taxpayer inquired about the levy’s language on the Nov. 5 ballot. It was investigated by Meacham’s office with help from the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office, which assisted in reviewing Ohio Revised Code and documents Meacham’s office collected.

“Starting with the 2014 library renewal levy, all 58 taxing districts in Mahoning County were assessed the levy, but the levy did not appear on the ballot of nine of the districts. These nine districts had been carved out of the Mahoning County library district in an Ohio General Assembly bill passed in 2012, and these districts should not have been assessed this levy. The library received the correct amounts during this period from the levy as stipulated in levy language,” the news release states.

Those districts were assessed the levy properly prior to the bill’s passage, but no longer were included under the new rules.

The errors were made in 2013 and 2014, before Meacham took office in 2015. Former auditor Michael Sciortino was first elected to a full term in office in 2006 and was removed from the office by a three-judge panel assembled by the Ohio Supreme Court after he was named in a political corruption case in connection to the county’s purchase of Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former South Side Hospital.

There were no errors attributable to the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. Library records indicate that at the time of the 2014 levy, all appropriate agencies had been notified of the redistricting, according to the library.

“We were distressed to learn that an error impacted the correct assessment of the library’s levy,” said Aimee Fifarek, executive director of the library system. “We care deeply about our community and want every voter to be confident they can have a voice in our service. We are relieved to know that Mr. Meacham and his staff were able to determine that the library did not receive any funds inappropriately.”

The auditor’s office reviewed library levy documents from 2010, 2014 and 2019 at the Mahoning County Board of Elections, Mahoning County Commissioners office, Ohio Department of Taxation and the state Library Board. No relevant documents were located within the auditor’s office, so all documents had to be obtained elsewhere, according to the news release.

“I deeply regret this error. The fact that the error was found and corrected gives me little comfort. Since taking office in March of 2015, I have restructured the office to increase efficiencies, accountability, transparency and accuracy. As in the past, and going forward, these qualities will be paramount in delivering services to taxpayers,” Meacham said.

Of the 165,000 parcels in Mahoning County, 3,300 parcels are within the nine tax districts affected.

“In tax year 2015, the overpayment in these districts totaled $148,155, for an average of $44.92 per parcel. In tax year 2016, the overpayment in these districts totaled $150,382, for an average of $45.47 per parcel. In tax year 2017, the overpayment in these districts totaled $166,113, for an average of $50.26 per parcel. In tax year 2018, the overpayment in these districts totaled $166,887, for an average of $50.31 per parcel,” the news release states.