By Greg Bishop/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – It’s not often you hear that Illinois overpaid its bills.

But Illinois Department of Revenue Spokesman Terry Horstman said former Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration overpaid 6,500 taxing bodies $168 million in 2014.

“During the transition from the antiquated accounting system to a new general ledger, the department identified an over allocation of replacement tax funds,” Horstman said.

State Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Peru, is skeptical the overpayment was a mistake.

“This potentially could just be another example of how things quietly changed to bring money up to Chicago,” Rezin said.

Rezin said whether it was deliberate or incompetence, this blunder follows the same pattern of misspent or overspent money from Quinn’s anti-violence programs just before his re-election bid.

Chicago Public Schools was overpaid the most. It got $23.5 million more than it was supposed to receive. The city of Chicago got nearly $20 million in overpayment.

Rockford, one of the largest school districts in the state, was overpaid nearly $2.8 million.

Stacie Scott, Rockford Public Schools executive director of budget and purchasing, said the district is working with the Department of Revenue to address the error. Scott said the district will work to ensure repayment has as little impact as possible on teaching and learning.

Horstman said the state understands repayment may be a burden to local governments.

“The recapturing will occur over an extended period of time and that will be done through a reduction PPRT taxing districts receive,” Horstman said.