If my paycheck was deducting state taxes all year long, then how come when I filed I still had to pay out $26 extra?

[LeonardS]

The most probable reason you had to pay an additional $26 in state tax is that the amount of state tax being withheld throughout the year was not sufficient to cover the state tax you owed.

You may want to consider changing your withholdings by submitting an updated  Form W-4 to your employer to have then withhold more state tax during the year.

[SweetieJean]

Since it amounts to 50 cents per week, it may be due to rounding when the withholding was calculated. Or, you had some additional income (non-wages) subject to state tax.