In San Mateo County, California, the Board of Supervisors is holding a closed-door session to deal with a $20 million mistake. As mistakes go, it’s a pretty big one.
The San Mateo County Superior Court awarded Genentech, a self-described profitable biotech firm, $20 million in a recent court case. Genentech had filed suit against the county, claiming that the company had been overtaxed. The court didn’t agree – or disagree. The court didn’t even hear the case. The case wasn’t heard within the appropriate time frame – resulting in a default judgment in favor of Genentech.
How could this have happened? Officials aren’t giving out any specifics, stating merely that it was it was “probably a combination of a poor calendaring system and human error.” I’ll say. With this kind of money, I’m guessing that the human that contributed to that error is now out of a job…
As for the county, Supervior Mark Church notes that this couldn’t “have come at a worse time, with the state budget crisis and the cutbacks we’re experiencing.” This is especially a concern since property tax dollars are largely used in the county for school budgets. Church went on to say that he is hopeful that Genentech would not take advantage of a technicality.
I wouldn’t bet on it.
Especially after Genentech spokeswoman Caroline Pecquet has said, “Like any other taxpayer, we simply want to pay the amount of tax we believe is legally owed.”
And remember, they believe that they had already overpaid.
You do the math on that one.
