TROY – The city overbilled homeowners in the garbage fee bills that went out this week, an error that may be attributed to the coronavirus outbreak.

The bills that went out were for $190 -- $10 higher than the $180 fee approved by the City Council last year during the 2020 budget vote.

“It was just a clerical error in putting the amount in the bill,” John Salka, a spokesman for Mayor Patrick Madden, said Tuesday. The three-year-old trash fee has come under criticism from residents and political opponents of the administration.

The city has been working short-staffed in its City Hall offices as it follows state guidelines for social distancing. Salka said the effort to avoid coronavirus exposure may have led to the mistake being made. The 5.5 percent overcharge on the bill became apparent to residents as it arrived in mailboxes around the city Monday.

City Council President Carmella Mantello, a Republican, wanted the city to delay collecting the trash fee until September to give homeowners a break until after the coronavirus shutdown in the city and state ends and people can get back to work.

“They’ve got to worry about something that’s wrong,” Mantello said about the mistake.

The city intends to mail notices to residents explaining the correct amount is $180 per unit, Salka said. They would still use the forms on the bill to make their payments. Anyone who overpays either the six-month amount or the full bill will receive an appropriate refund. That’s $5 for a six-month installment payment and $10 for paying the bill completely off.

Property owners pay a trash fee of $180 per unit under the city budget and law regulating the collection of the charge. The fee was proposed by Madden, a Democrat, in his 2017 budget. Republicans opposed it, saying it was a way to circumvent the cap on the property tax levy and was essentially a new tax. The fee was previously $164 per unit until it was raised last year during the budget approval process.

The city is reviewing its cash flow to determine if it can waive any late fees or interest payments on garbage fees that are paid late or if it can put off collection of the trash payments until later in the year, Salka said.