RICHMOND, Va. -- Jason Roop, who owns a marketing and public relations business in Richmond, had an experience at Richmond City Hall that he said wasn't very comforting.
In June, he visited the finance department to resolve an issue with his tax bill. While there, he happened to find out that the city owed him hundreds of dollars.
“The person I was working with said, ‘Oh, would you like us to just pull that from your credit?’ And I said, ‘What do you mean my credit?’ She says, ‘Well, you have a $600-some credit on your account.’ And that blew me away a little bit," Roop said.
As it turned out, Roop overpaid on a business personal property tax in 2022 but never knew about it.
“It’s as simple as this: The city had money that it owed me and never told me about it, and that was very frustrating," Roop said. “None of this is common sense. Any business that you do work with as a customer, you assume that when you overpay or they have a balance on your account, they'll let you know and return that money.”
Richmond council members know this isn't a unique situation.
That's why in March before Roop discovered his credit by chance, the council passed a local law that requires the finance department to notify taxpayers when a credit exists on an account within 90 days of making that determination.
The law states the finance department must also instruct the taxpayer on how to apply for a refund.
“We just want people to be notified, and we want it to be pretty straightforward," City Council President Kristen Nye said.
Six months later, CBS 6 submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the number of notifications of credits the finance department has sent to taxpayers in response to the council's legislation.
But the city said it had "no responsive records."
"The number of account holders notified of refunds is not tracked across the different finance processes," city spokesperson Margaret Ekam said.
Ekam said the finance department is complying with the council's ordinance but did not answer repeated questions about whether the finance department has sent any credit notifications since March.
Nye said she is aware that the department has made some progress in complying with the council's legislation but still has a ways to go.
“I have gotten information that some of the taxes do have some automatic refunds built into the system, which is great," Nye said.
She said finance has installed credit notifications into the online billing system that will trigger whenever a taxpayer overpays on personal property and residential real estate taxes.
However, the same mechanism is not yet available for business licenses, business personal property, or admission lodging and meals taxes.
"Those accounts are a little more complex, so it's taking the finance department a little longer to implement this ordinance," Nye said. “We all understand the intense rebuilding of the finance department and wish this was happening sooner. However, as long as they're on the path and things are on track and we're working to become fully compliant with the law, I think we're headed in a decent direction.”
However, Roop was not as optimistic about the administration's execution.
“City council can pass all the ordinances it wants, and if those ordinances aren't followed, it doesn't matter. We've seen that happen time and again," Roop said.
Nye said another thorough audit of finance department operations, to possibly track compliance with council ordinances, is scheduled for next year.
A years-long inspector general investigation into allegations that the finance department failed to notify taxpayers of credits and then converted the money into city funds after a 3-year statute of limitations is still an open investigation, according to Nye.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
Watch Tyler Layne's reporting on CBS 6 and WTVR.com. Have something for Tyler to investigate? Email him.
