GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — An effort to get some new Grand Island businesses to file overdue personal property schedules has backfired.

Hall County assessor Jan Pelland told the Hall County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that she asked her staff to prepare the schedules for the businesses, supply inflated values and then send them to the businesses with directions to correct the values and send the schedules back.

Six of the businesses didn’t notice the valuations — and Pelland says she didn’t check — so the values were reflected on tax bills sent out in December. That’s when they noticed.

Pelland took full responsibility for the office action, and the board voted 7-0 Tuesday to reduce those inflated personal property values by nearly $5.3 million.