The state is spending much more than expected on protecting the identities of taxpayers. The Department of Revenue agreed to pay for credit monitoring for the 171,000 residents who accidentally had their Social Security numbers printed on their tax booklets. Spokeswoman Meredith Helgerson says that so far, over 25,000 people have signed up for the services. The state had expected only half that many to sign up.
The larger than anticipated interest in the program is costing the state much more than anticipated. Helgerson says they've already spent over a half million dollars so far, and the costs could climb to around $677,000 if people continue enrolling at the same rate. Taxpayers will cover most of that, because the printing company that made the mistake only agreed to cover a portion of the cost.
Helgerson says the response is so strong because the state worked hard to make taxpayers aware of the risk.
