Platte County government will refund tax monies paid in error by a number of large telephone service providers – and are encouraging residents to take a look for unnecessary fees on their own phone bills.
The county eliminated its land-line 911 emergency tax in late 2020, but some service providers apparently didn’t receive the memo. Collections from the retired tax were sent to the county in 2021 and continue into this year. Auditor Kevin Robinson explained the situation to commissioners at the Monday, April 4 administrative session, held at the Platte County Resource Center in Kansas City.
More than 20 carriers are sending land-line 911 tax payments to the county, and still continue to do so despite the county’s efforts to stop collection.
“What we’ve found is that a number of these are handled by third-party companies,” Robinson said, meaning while the county communicated the end of its land-line collections properly, the news has taken too long to filter down to those third-party contractors.
Over $31,000 will be refunded to more than 20 carriers, with the bulk to be remitted back to AT&T, Robinson said. The auditor’s full report on the situation is pending, he said, but he expects the situation to continue for some time.
District commissioner Dagmar Wood suggested residents check their own land-line bills to see if their carriers are still collecting the defunct tax. If customers contact the carriers about the situation it might speed up the discontinuation of the collection.
District commissioner Joe Vanover asked if there was a minimum amount to refund back to the carriers. Robinson said while he had initially considered setting a low bar, he opted not to since the county itself asks for remittance of all tax monies owed.
This decision will force the county to cover costs for processing and mailing of checks for small amounts, with one carrier owed back about 30 cents.
“So, yes, it will cost us about $100 for that 30-cent check,” Robinson said.
Vanover questioned what would happen when carriers decided it wasn’t worth the effort to cash those checks. Robinson said the money would eventually be sent off to the state as uncollected funds.
Also at the meeting, commissioners approved annual bids as well as bid and contract awards for the annual road resurfacing projects. Superior Bowen Asphalt was awarded a $1.3 million contract for asphalt work and Vance Brothers’ bid for nearly $350,000 in microsurfacing was approved.