DOVER, N.H. (AP) – A review in Dover has found the state is making mistakes in hundreds of bills for car registration fees.

Dover officials say overcharges for just five state notices totaled more than $17,000.

City Finance Director Jeff Harrington says city clerks caught the mistakes before residents overpaid.

Harrington said he believes at least 1,500 of the 30,000 bills prepared by the state for Dover drivers each year are incorrect, and that most of the errors undercharge car owners, stiffing the city out of registration income.

In the past two years, some of the larger errors caught by local clerks include a 2003 Subaru Legacy owner billed $3,780.50 for a registration that should have cost $315.50 and a 2002 Volkswagen Passat owner charged $8,346.50 for a registration that should cost $344.50.

“People call up and are literally laughing, saying, Wait a second, my car costs how much?” Harrington told The Union Leader. “Some people bring them in and ask what is going on.”

Dover officials estimate that for every overcharge error, the DMV prepared three registrations that stiffed the city by charging too little.

“The majority of the errors seem to be undercharges,” Harrington said. “For the city of Dover, that means the persons made their payment, we put it into the system and we find it’s undercharged. We have to contact the person and tell them the notice was incorrect.”

Many towns prepare their own registration notices, but several communities, including Dover, have the state provide the service.

“For towns where these pre-prints are being printed, towns that aren’t automated at all, they could be losing revenue unless they’re checking each notice (the state) prints up,” Harrington said.

DMV Director Virginia Beecher acknowledged that registration errors were likely made when DMV clerks typed in information provided by town clerks.

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Information from: The Union Leader, http://www.theunionleader.com

AP-ES-07-03-04 1605EDT