Here's a Letter to the Editor that was printed in the Albert Lea Tribune on April 6, 2008
In 2006 I sent an e-mail to Victoria Simonsen, “Albert Lea city manager,” regarding theGreat Job Robin!
fact that we were being charged a city tax on our Charter bill, and we did not
live in the city of Albert Lea. She responded the early part of February 2007
and in her response she agreed and said she would notify her financial
department and Charter Communications of this. However, the tax has stayed on
the bill until recently. I also had contacted Charter to no avail.It simply said it was
up to the city officials to tell the company who to tax or not tax.I even wrote
a letter to Mayor Randy Erdman and asked that he mention it at the City
Council meeting. He never responded at all! I had not heard from the city
manager (even though I sent her e-mails regarding this) until she finally
responded on Dec. 27, 2007, stating she had contacted the city attorney to
research this problem. Then she indicated he had reported back to her that he
had researched this and it was legal! I don’t know if he actually did this, but
if he did I am not sure where he got his information as it was also
wrong.Meanwhile, I had been in contact with state Rep. Robin Brown and the state
of Minnesota Department of Taxation and Revenue. She and her staff worked
diligently with me to get this corrected and in January Charter contacted me and
also the state Department of Revenue and Taxation telling me it is not legal for
us to have to pay Albert Lea city tax on our Charter bill! I would like to
publicly thank
Rep. Robin Brown and her staff for all the time and effort spent helping me in
getting this resolved. On my recent bill from Charter not only is the tax off I
was reimbursed for all the charges. I am hoping all the others in my area and
outside the city limits have also had the tax removed and been reimbursed. If not,
contact Robin. She is more than willing to help.
Beth Miller, Albert Lea
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