NYS return audited and now owe $400 from my sophomore year of college please help

Hello,

I got a letter in the mail from the department of taxation and finance saying my dad will be charged $400 because my scholarships and grands exceeded my tuition expenses.

I was a dependent under my father for all 4 years of college, he’s low income and so I got a lot of aid. He has alzheimer’s and got laid off + relies on state benefits and cannot pay this, he doesn’t even have the mental capability of understanding what this is about.

I’ve received pell grant, TAP, and another scholarship throughout my 4 years and would receive reimbursements for tuition. But this is extremely common at my college since it’s a community college and a lot of us were low income.

I’m struggling to find more information or if anyone has been able to successfully waive it. I really need help, I’m afraid to call and potentially mess things up and incur more charges? I don’t really understand the letter for example it says “you have been allowed a college tuition credit of $0 based on verified undergraduate tuition expenses of $0, amount of college tuition credit disallowed $244 (plus interest)” WHAT?

This is stressing me out so bad 😣 if anyone could help please i’m literally terrified lol i’m a first generation student so applying to aid was horrific and I don’t know if this is really bad now