CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Horry County recently noticed an error that will cause thousands of residents to have to pay an extra car tax bill this year.
According to the county auditor, Lois Eargle, the mistake came after changing software systems back in 2014. The technical learning curve caused the county to miss 4,400 new car tax bills from 2014 to 2017.
“Anytime you have a new system, things happen. Anyone will tell you that,” Eargle said.
Eargle says people who purchased a new car from the dealership between 2014 to 2017 and did not change their tags over will owe the county the initial taxes.
Horry County discovered the glitch through an investigation and immediately issued letters to those who are affected.
According to Horry County’s spokesperson, Kelly Moore, the error had a minor impact.
“This affected a really small percentage of folks. Less than half of one percent of people who purchased a new vehicle between 2014 and 2017,” Moore said.
According to the local dealership, Beach Volvo, the average county tax for a new car is anywhere between $40 to $80. This means because of the glitch, Horry County could be looking at over $350,000 in revenue from the vehicle taxes they missed.
A state law says if a person does not pay their car taxes, they could have their driver’s licenses suspended. While Horry County will not charge late penalties for the old taxes, they say they still expect everyone to pay what they may owe.
Horry County says they have notified everyone who has been impacted. They ask anyone with questions to call the auditor’s office at (843) 915-5050.
