Benton County mistake sends 100+ taxpayer bank account numbers to random person

A Benton County employee’s error sent the bank account and routing numbers of the owners of 189 parcels of land to a random county taxpayer.

The error was made March 14 and discovered the same day, but affected property owners were not notified until April 25, according to a letter obtained by the Tri-City Herald.

The letter, signed by Adam Morasch, the Benton County, Wash., risk manager, said that the taxpayer who received the email by mistake did not disclose any of the information. The person was not a county employee.

The same day the email was sent by an employee of the treasurer’s office, a county official contacted the recipient, the letter said.

“That person immediately agreed to delete the message and sign a declaration swearing that the recipient fully deleted the e-mail, did not print the e-mail, and did not disclose any information in the e-mail to third parties,” the letter said.

The information in the email included the names of the owners of 189 parcels of property who made property tax payments in March 2023, the property parcel numbers, the taxpayers’ bank account and routing numbers and the property tax amounts.

The email was intended for the employee’s manager but the e-mail system auto-completed a name similar to the employee’s manager, the letter said.

Morasch said in his letter to those whose information was disclosed that although it appeared that no harm was done, the county wanted to let them know what had happened.

The county has new security procedures to prevent it from happening again, the letter said.

Wrong email address

Morasch told the Tri-City Herald that a shared drive has been set up to exchange information that includes taxpayer personal information among county employees rather than using emails.

The county was not legally required to notify people whose banking account information was shared, Morasch said. That information is printed on any check that is used for a payment.

But the county decided to contact people affected in the interest of being aboveboard and to allow them to watch their bank account for any problems, he said.

The email error followed a Benton County tax problem earlier this year. That earlier error was made in the assessor’s office, rather than the treasurer’s office.

In August, voters approved a tax levy lift to allow Benton Fire District 4, which covers West Richland and the surrounding area, to collect more money from taxpayers for six years starting in 2023.

However, the increase was not included on tax bills, causing the fire district to scramble to cover costs it budgeted for this year, including paying the wages of three new employees to increase emergency aid.

County Assessor Bill Spencer said the error was made as his office was short staffed and its levy deputy resigned.