By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — Revised 2025-26 Olean city tax bills are in the mail, Mayor Bill Aiello announced Thursday.
When the budget was approved in April, the amount of the increase was incorrect. The budget document specified a 6.2% increase in the tax levy when it was actually 7.13%.
The revised tax bills sent out Wednesday — printed on yellow paper — are slightly smaller than the ones originally sent out.
Taxpayers will have the months of June and July to pay their tax bill without penalty.
For those who already paid their tax bill before the error was discovered and tax collection was suspended, their refund check was in the mail on Friday, a press release from the mayor’s office stated.
The Common Council late last month approved $74,711 in budget cuts to bring the levy back down to a 6.2% increase and issue new tax bills. The new tax rate is $17.75 per $1,000 assessed value not $17.90.
Auditor Lens Martial accepted full responsibility for not catching the mistake.
To pare the tax levy by $74,711, the Common Council approved $30,000 in debt service charges, $11,000 from lower insurance premiums and $20,711 from the Public Works Department including $12,711 for road striping.
The city’s 2025-26 budget is actually down $618,000 from the 2024-25 budget. The tax levy is $8.56 million.
The error in the tax rate increase will not have any impact on the water or sewer budgets. The sewer fund is $4.79 million, up $292,000 and the water fund is $4.5 million, up $219,000.
The cost to reissue the amended tax bills, which will be lower, is about $5,600, according to the mayor.
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