SOUTH BEND — Pacific County is refunding about $700,000 it wrongly collected in taxes on real estate sales during the past year and a half.

Now, people who bought or sold property in the county’s unincorporated areas between April 1, 2015 and Dec. 28, 2016 might be getting back part of the real estate excise taxes they paid.

The County Commission in 2015 raised the tax for property sales outside of city limits from 1.53 percent to 1.78 percent, and started collecting the money. But state law does not allow such an increase without the approval of voters.

The mistake affected about 1,400 property sales before it was discovered late last year during the three-member commission’s review of rules and budgets, County Administrator Kathy Spoor said.

The county has not spent any of the money that was wrongly collected and will make every effort to refund it with interest, she said.

The confusion arose because counties that are required to have a growth-management plan can raise excise taxes by one quarter of one percent to help pay for building projects, Spoor said. However, those with optional plans, including Pacific County, have to ask voters to approve the increase.

“The tax should not have been added without a vote of the people,” Spoor said. “That’s where the error was made.”

The county stopped collecting the money and started working to refund overpayments as soon as officials became aware of the mistake, she said.

Spoor does not expect the commission to ask voters to approve an increase of the real estate excise tax. Property sellers usually pay it. However, buyers sometimes cover part of all of the tax, depending on negotiated closing costs.

Letters were mailed to affected buyers and sellers on Feb. 15 to explain how the error occurred, and how they can get their money back. Property taxes are not being refunded.

Spoor said she wanted to get the information out sooner but it was delayed because county staff had to research who paid the tax for each affected sale with title companies. They also had to work with attorneys and the state Auditor’s Office to make sure the error was handled properly, she said.

Those with questions can email Spoor at kspoor@co.pacific.wa.us or call her at 360-642-9334.