The Tangipahoa Parish Tax Assessor's office has discovered an error in the Hammond taxpayers' favor. It appears that, beginning in 1987, Hammond homeowners were incorrectly charged for taxes within the Hammond school system when they shouldn't have been. It was determined to be a human error due to the fact that, at one time, the city's boundaries and the school district's boundaries were the same. However, when the city was annexed over the years, homeowners were erroneously charged for the school district tax in the newly annexed areas.
Even though the taxes were wrongly collected 23 years ago, homeowners can only claim a refund on the error (if they qualify) for 2007, 2008 and 2009, since the law only allows restitution for the last 3 years. The Assessor's office wants to assure the public that their 2010 taxes will reflect the correct tax amount due since the error was caught in March of this year. The total amount of taxes collected for Hammond homeowners in the Woodbridge Subdivision, along Conrad Anderson Road and near North Oaks Hospital over the last three years was more than $100,000.
If you need to file for a refund, you can contact the Tangipahoa Parish Tax Assessor's office at 748-7181, 748-7176, 345-6226 or 229-6224. When you file a claim, the staff at the Assessor's office will look up the property in question, determine what should have been paid in taxes, what actually was paid in taxes and calculate the difference and then they will forward their findings and the claim along to the Louisiana Tax Commission for approval. The Commission meets every two weeks and must approve each refund before sending it back to the parish's sheriff's office to issue a refund. The Tangipahoa Parish sheriff's office also serves as the parish tax collector.
If you are a homeowner in Hammond, you may have a refund coming your way for overpayment of school taxes over the last 3 years. It can't hurt to give the Assessor's office a call to see if you may be due some money. This is also a great reminder to check your tax bill for possible errors when you receive it. That way a problem like this won't continue to occur over the years and cost you more money.
Yvonne Martin, The Martin Team, Let Our Family Bring Your Family Home to Hammond Real Estate
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