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The county school system likely won't get the $20 million owed it by the state until after July 1.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said Monday that he has heard directly from Gov. Martin O'Malley about the money.

"From what the governor has told me we will probably receive the money as part of the fiscal 2010 budget," Leggett said. The fiscal year begins July 1.

In a Dec. 30 memo to the school board, Superintendent Jerry D. Weast wrote that he had informed Leggett, the County Council and state delegates last January of a perceived error by the state in the calculation of property assessments, which are used in part to determine how much aid each county receives, but that no corrections were made.

Leggett's office also notified the state about the error in the calculation.

Weast estimated that the county system was shortchanged between "$20 and $25 million" this fiscal year as a result of the miscalculation. The county received about $399 million, but should have gotten about $420 million.

Shaun Adamec, a spokesman for O'Malley (D), confirmed Tuesday that the state will be giving $20 million to the Montgomery County system, but he didn't know when the money would be sent.

On Dec. 22, Stephen A. Brooks, an assistant state superintendent, wrote a letter to Weast outlining state aid estimates, county schools spokesman Steve Simon said.

Before the letter was written, Weast's staff had contacted state officials after the school system did not receive its projected state aid in the current fiscal year, Simon said.

"We went back to the state and tried to plant that there had to be a serious error in the calculation," Simon said.

Of the missing $20 million, $7 million had been disbursed to other school districts, which Adamec could not identify. Those school systems will not have to return the money to the state.

After the error was discovered, the state granted the county $10 million so officials could comply with state law, Simon said.

The oversight by the state affects the school system's budget, and county officials are working to determine what it means for the county's budget as a whole, Leggett said.

"But I don't know with other cuts that could come from the state, whether this money decreases the county's deficit by $24 million," he said.

In December, Weast unveiled a $2.11 billion spending plan for fiscal 2010, a flat budget without any new programs and a variety of cuts.

In outlining his budget request, Weast warned that the next wave of cuts could severely impact programs if the state does not give $20 million to the county.

Adamec said internal reviews of state taxation and budget offices will be conducted, but that the main goal was to make sure this type of error did not happen again.

Staff Writer Janel Davis contributed to this report.