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City to waive fees after excise tax lockbox address change caused returned payments and demand notices
Summary
The mayor told councilors a change in the excise tax lockbox address and an expired mail-forwarding order led banks’ payments to be returned, producing demand notices; the city will waive fees and interest while it rectifies accounts.
Mayor Charlie Cycinski told the council the city discovered an administrative error in the excise tax payment process tied to a change in the payment lockbox address after the city switched banking vendors.
The mayor said the city moved excise tax lockbox processing in January 2024 as part of a new banking services contract. The old lockbox had a 6-month mail-forwarding order; after that forwarding expired, payments sent by banks to the old lockbox were returned to banks and were not posted to city accounts, which resulted in demand notices, late fees and interest for some residents.
Why it matters: Several councilors, most prominently Councilor Cannon, reported calls from seniors and other residents frightened by demand letters. The mayor said the treasurer’s office is working to rectify accounts and that “the fees and the interest charges will be waived.” He acknowledged the city’s communication about the lockbox/address change was insufficient.
Details and next steps: The mayor said the city will try to ensure future lockbox address changes are better advertised and that he asked City Treasurer Carolyn Lyons to stand by on Zoom to answer questions. Councilors requested clearer public notice processes when administrative changes affect billing and for follow-up information from the treasurer’s office about remedies given to affected taxpayers.
What officials said: Councilor Cannon said the situation was “very troubling” and pressed the administration to explain why internal checks didn’t catch the spike in unpaid bills sooner. The mayor said excise bills go out only once a year, which delayed detection, and apologized for the communication failure.
Context: The mayor traced the problem to the city’s banking RFP and change of lockbox provider in early 2024 and said steps will be taken so similar issues are more clearly announced in the future.
