HispanicBusiness

Upwards of 3,500 taxpayers might have been double-billed by Jackson County for personal property taxes they owe on cars, trucks, boats and other personal property in 2012, county officials said Thursday.

County officials stress that the number could be far fewer. But as a precaution, letters were being sent out this week to anyone who might have been affected by the error, with instructions on how to contact the assessment department to have bills corrected, said county spokesman Dan Ferguson

The deadline for paying personal property taxes is Monday. However, taxpayers face no penalty for late payments if their bill is in error, Ferguson said.

Those who suspect they've already overpaid should contact the assessor's office at 816-881-1487 or 816-881-6653 to arrange for a refund.

County officials have not determined what led to the glitch that came to light recently when taxpayers complained that the same vehicles were listed twice on their tax bills.

Until this week, they were unsure how many people might have been affected.

An internal audit identified potential problems in just over 1 percent of the 295,000 personal property accounts, Ferguson said.