Database error creates a royal mess

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () bsf-llc com>]

Didn't anyone notice when setting the tax rate there was big jump in housing
values from the previous year?

Richard

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060211/ap_on_fe_st/misvalued_house

VALPARAISO, Ind. - A house erroneously valued at $400 million is being
blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs 
 
An outside user of Porter County's computer system may have triggered the
mess by accidentally changing the value of the Valparaiso house, said Sharon
Lippens, director of the county's information technologies and service
department. The house had been valued at $121,900 before the glitch.

County Treasurer Jim Murphy said the home usually carried about $1,500 in
property taxes; this year, it was billed $8 million.

The homeowner, Dennis Charnetzky, declined to comment about the situation to
The Associated Press on Friday.

Lippens said her agency identified the mistake and told the county auditor's
office how to correct it. But the $400 million value ended up on documents
that were used to calculate tax rates.

Most local officials did not learn about the mistake until Tuesday, when 18
government taxing units were asked to return a total of $3.1 million of tax
money. The city of Valparaiso and the Valparaiso Community School Corp. were
asked to return $2.7 million. As a result, the school system has a $200,000
budget shortfall, and the city loses $900,000.

...
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