If you live in the city of Erie and haven't received your tax bill yet, you're not alone.

The city tax office sends out the city and county tax bills together along with the storm water fee bill, and they haven't sent them yet because of a dispute over the numbers for the county tax millage rate.

The issue stems from a county budget veto for the 2025 spending plan.

County council sent data to the city tax office, which prints both the city and county tax bill, indicating that the millage rate should be 7.12 to cover spending not disputed by veto in the budget.  So the bills were printed with that number according to city solicitor Ed Betza and city treasurer Cas Kwitowski.

So the bills were printed with that number.

But the county executive did not agree.  County Solicitor Bill Speros sent an official letter to the city tax office saying that without the super majority needed to override the the county executive's budget veto, the millage rate should revert to 2024 figures at 6.6a.

Solicitor Betza said he understands the legal issues involved, but the city can't wait for ever to send the bills.  Property owners who want to pay taxes early to get a 2% discount are getting concerned.

"There's an incentive for taxpayers to do their bills early, and there's also a benefit for the city to receive the tax money early. So we're not in a position where we can wait an extended period of time to get those bills out, they need to go out," Betza said. "If the county's issues and those are legitimate issues, if those are not able to be resolved in the next couple of days, then the city will have to send it's tax bills separate."

The county's finance committee meets on Thursday afternoon at 4:00 to address the matter.  They may be able to negotiate a solution with County Executive Brenton Davis, or they may have to seek a court injunction.

Other municipalities in Erie County may experience similar delays as their bills are combined with the county's tax bills.