Unknown number of residents affected by tax glitch
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Questions about why some town residents' taxes were charged twice remained unanswered.

Town tax receiver Susan Jaros said HSBC Bank had deposited some taxes twice and in a few cases three times.

"I have no idea," Jaros said when asked how it happened. "It started last Friday (Feb. 15), and it has been going on all week."

She said HSBC notified other area banks about the issue, and she concluded they weren't paying attention to HSBC's request, as the error continued.

Those who were affected need to notify HSBC to have a correction made.

Jaros also said she had no idea how many residents were affected.

"This is not our error," she said, adding that she had asked for a list of affected residents to contact and head off the situation.

The clerk's office was fielding calls all week from residents.

HSBC provided the following statement, "A system problem on Feb. 13, 2008 resulted in the duplication of information on a certain number of checks previously cleared between Feb. 6 and Feb. 13, 2008. As is standard procedure, HSBC immediately made all necessary notifications to both clearing banks involved and the Federal Reserve Bank. Importantly, we are working to identify those customers impacted in this case, in order to expeditiously rectify this issue," said Francine Minadeo, manager of public affairs for HSBC.

When asked how many residents were affected, Minadeo said she did not know.

"Customers should be vigilant about reviewing their bank statements. If they think their payment posted twice, they should contact their bank. If they bank with HSBC, they should reach out to their branch manager," she said.