AT&T; Begins Refunds for Billing Mistake

Long-distance telephone users in Agoura Hills will soon begin to receive refunds from AT&T; for a utility users tax that was wrongly collected last fall, but some residents may have to wait until early next year to be fully reimbursed, telephone company officials said Friday.

The company said that because of a billing error it charged about 4,000 Agoura Hills residents a 5% county utility tax from August to November 1996, two months after voters repealed the city’s 4% utility users tax during a special election.

Since then, some anti-tax groups have fought the utility company for refunds of the tax, and the company has agreed to send out $5 gift certificates for long-distance calls to affected customers.

“The error was caught and fortunately people didn’t pay more than about $1 a month,” said Alice Nagel, AT&T; spokeswoman. “But certainly they shouldn’t have had to pay that.”

Although the tax money was sent to the Los Angeles County general fund, the refunds will come from the company’s coffers, Nagel said.

Residents, who fought to keep the issue on the front burner for local officials and utility companies, said they were pleased that AT&T; is finally refunding the money. However, they believe the issue is not yet resolved.

“There’s no comfort level in this until they can assure everybody that they’ve identified the magnitude and scope of the problem and have fixed it,” said Barbara Murphy, an opponent of the tax.

Nagel said a few residents are still being charged the tax because they fell through the cracks when the company first attempted to rectify the problem.

Some area residents, she said, live in pockets that the company’s billing system incorrectly recognizes as being in Agoura Hills, including several people in Oak Park who share a ZIP Code with the small municipality.

Nagel said the company has installed a billing system that will eliminate problems for new customers. But existing customers may continue to see the tax on their bills until January, when AT&T; resolves billing problems nationwide.

Once these customers are identified, they will receive any remaining refunds from AT&T;, she said.