The rental car company Hertz owes Allegheny County nearly three quarters of a million dollars, according to County Controller Chelsa Wagner.
Wagner found the error while auditing three years worth of activities at Pittsburgh International Airport. Car rental companies are to collect and send to the county a $2 per vehicle per day tax. Due to a computer glitch, Hertz Corporation had not been submitting the receipts to the county.
According to Wagner, the total for the three years comes up to $435,777. A fine of $207,530 has also been added to the bill for a total of $743,107.
“This is a significant recovery for Allegheny County’s taxpayers,” Wagner said. “I am pleased that Hertz has worked cooperatively with my office to identify the problem.”
Wagner said her office would now initiate an expanded audit for the years 2008 through 2011. The county created the car rental tax in December of 2007.
“This audit uncovered three quarter of a million dollars over a three-year period," Wagner said. "Expanding the scope further back to 2008 may recover even more funds for Allegheny County.”
The car rental tax was expected to bring in $6.8 million in 2014, according to the current budget.
