City Of Long Beach, CA To Provide $16.6 Million Refund To Telephone Taxpayers

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SEATTLE, June 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- JND Class Action Administration

A Los Angeles court has preliminarily approved a $16.6 million class action settlement for refunds of telephone taxes collected by the City of Long Beach, California from August 11, 2005 through December 19, 2008.

All individuals and businesses that paid for landline telephone service with a service address in the City of Long Beach, or mobile service where the billing address was in the City of Long Beach, and who paid telephone tax on services utilized between August 11, 2005 through December 19, 2008 are eligible to claim a refund.  THE DEADLINE TO FILE A REFUND CLAIM IS SEPTEMBER 15, 2018.  Claims for telephone tax refunds can be submitted online, at www.LBTaxRefund.com, or through the mail.  A notice and claim form will also be mailed to current addresses in the City of Long Beach.  

Eligible class members have several options to file a claim, which include: (1) claim standard amounts of $27.50 for residential landline telephone service, $46.00 for business landline service, and/or $46.00 for mobile telephone service, with no documentary evidence required; (2) submit samples of bills reflecting the telephone utility users' taxes ("UUT") paid during the class period to receive a refund of the actual UUT paid; or (3) if bills from the class period are not available, submit a sample of recent phone bills reflecting the UUT paid to the City to receive a refund based on recent UUT amounts.  In addition, class members who were customers of Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobile during the August 11, 2005 to December 19, 2008 time period can provide consent for those carriers to search for UUT payment records. Class members may claim refunds for both landline and mobile telephone taxes.  

The City of Long Beach has agreed to pay up to a maximum of $16.6 million.  Undistributed funds, after attorneys' fees and costs, plaintiff's incentive award, and notice and administration expenses are paid, will revert back to the City of Long Beach.  For additional information, claim forms and detailed instructions on how to make a claim, go to www.LBTaxRefund.com or call (833) 380-5573.

The lawsuit, McWilliams v. City of Long Beach, was brought on behalf of Long Beach, CA taxpayers by the law offices of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, Chimicles & Tikellis LLP, Cuneo Gilbert & Laduca, LLP, and Tostrud Law Group, PC.  The City of Long Beach disputes the claims made in the lawsuit, but believes it is in the best interest of its residents to settle the matter rather than incur further litigation expenses.

SOURCE JND Class Action Administration