Unclaimed Overpayments Result in City Windfall

About a year ago, former Tax Collector Constance Ludden tried to get the City Council to agree to put into surplus $809,984 in overpayments of taxes. All the taxpayers involved had been sent letters about the overpaid amounts, but had not responded.

When one of those taxpayers turned out to be Councilman Cory Storch for a $3,000 overpayment, Storch insisted he would have noticed a letter stating the case.

The council agreed to one more round of notification.

But on Monday, the council was asked to approve a new resolution to allow $780,065 to be placed in surplus due to various overpayments.

That means only $29,919 came back to those who overpaid, less than 4 percent of the total sought in February 2006 to roll back into surplus.

If anyone can prove they overpaid, there is still a chance to get the money back.

From the Plaintalker archives:

"The overpayments date back to 1996 and range from $5.40 to $18,292. Owners of property in the 907 accounts can claim the money if they can prove the overpayments. The 18-page list contains several well-known property owners, including Storch, a city inspector, library director Joe Da Rold, Walgreen’s, The Salvation Army, Leland Gardens, Union County College, PNC Bank and Interfaith Council for the Homeless."

--Bernice Paglia