DC Government

Photo by PoPville flickr user Phil

“Dear PoPville,

I just wanted to let you know about a situation I discovered today when I was finally able to speak with a live person in the DC Taxpayer Service Center.

Our tax preparer filed our US federal and DC local tax returns electronically on 27 March 2015.
We were owed refunds from both US and DC. The fed IRS credited our account an amazing five business days later on 3 April.

We still haven’t received the DC tax refund as of today. When we would go online at the
DC income tax return status website, we to the same reply for a month:

“Your return has been received and your refund is being processed. Please check back in a few days.”

Every time I called the contact number, the wait was over 15 minutes. Finally today i did wait, and the nice and knowledgeable woman I spoke with quickly came back with an answer.

As I had no W2 form and my spouse did and the return was filed under my Social Security Number, the customer service representative said that the District was unable to confirm that my spouse had had withheld any DC taxes. This in spite of our return having both our SSNs on it!. She said DC has an old 1999 tracking system that is unable to track withholding like that and that the primary taxpayer on a joint DC return must have a W2 showing DC tax withheld.

When I asked her what would have happened if I had not finally got through by phone, she said the return would have just been held in “pending.” DC does not notify the taxpayer that anything is wrong or missing in a case like this.

She asked me to fax or email her a copy of my spouse’s W2 which she would add to the file so the return can be processed and the refund issued. I emailed the copy of the W2 minutes after speaking with her.

Now to see if that actually happens! And how long that takes.

So if anyone is waiting for a while for a refund. Call the Taxpayer Service Number on their website.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Peter Bjork

In August a reader wrote in sharing their Lessons of a Bad Home Purchase. WAMU did a follow up report this morning that is incredibly depressing:

“An October 2014 inspection of the house by Delaine Englebert, an illegal-construction inspector at DCRA, confirmed that there were numerous problems. She catalogued three dozen violations, including unpermitted work, unfinished inspections, insufficient fire-blocking throughout the house, new structural beams that are not properly supported, a deck not correctly attached to the home, a failure to insulate the house, and more.

To make the house livable again, Landis estimated the couple would have to spend $407,000 to correct all the existing deficiencies and code violations.”

Read the full report here (Part 1 of 3).

Thanks to a reader for sending.

Since I skipped an album cover this week, Please enjoy some Corey Hart – Sunglasses At Night:

“Dear PoPville,

I moved to North Petworth last year and happen to live right on Georgia Avenue. Much talk has been discussed about making this area and the more northern parts of Ward 4 more attractive to development – especially by our Ward 4 council member candidates. My suggestion is this: Can we push the city to investigate the feasibility of putting a landscaped median along the northern stretch of Georgia Avenue, starting at the Georgia Avenue and New Hampshire intersection and extending to the border of Silver Spring? Much like the thoroughfares of Sherman Avenue, 16th Street, etc, the landscaped median would be a great way to beautify the space, slow down traffic, make the area more safe, and eventually attract local businesses.

I know there are plans for the Streetcar but those plans look like that will never come to fruition. This can be less expensive and time-consuming and have a more immediate impact on the area and really help it grow. Anybody think this is an idea worth pursuing? If so, let’s get together and figure it out!”

From MPD Chief Cathy Lanier:

“Good morning everyone, as you may be aware MPD is in the process of deploying body worn cameras throughout the Metropolitan Police Department. I have received numerous inquiries regarding this endeavor. To help answer these questions, and to provide a better understanding of our program, we have created a fact sheet. Please see the fact sheet below. (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Erin

Chose wisely and God help us. You can find your polling place here.