State auditors say about $8.7 million in tax revenues were distributed to the wrong towns in Montgomery County.
Citing a recently obtained audit, The Baltimore Sun reports that more than 14,000 returns that went through the office of Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot were erroneously classified.
The audit also found problems with how the office handles out-of-state tax credits, keeps information secure and issues replacement refund checks.
Franchot defended his office Wednesday, saying he and his staff inherited the revenue distribution problem from previous comptrollers, discovered it and corrected it. Towns have until 2024 to begin paying back the funds.
Franchot says his office did not lose any money and accused Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller of politicizing the audit.
A spokesman for Miller called Franchot's charges "asinine."
