May 23, 2024 By Mike Jones 3 min read

Washington County Treasurer Tom Flickinger has settled his lawsuit against Controller April Sloane over her requirement to have all residents fill out a federal tax form in order to receive property tax refunds.

Flickinger and Sloane agreed to a settlement on May 13, and it was approved by Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Lucas on Monday, effectively ending the fiscal standoff between the two county row officers.

Last summer, Sloane began requiring Internal Revenue Service W-9 tax forms to be filled out before she would allow the release of funds to people who overpaid or were overcharged on their property taxes. That caused a variety of issues in Flickinger’s office since he was unable to reimburse people who were owed money for overpayments.

“Specifically, taxpayers have been denied thousands of dollars in tax refunds of their own money, just because April Sloane felt she knew better than everyone else in the financial sector and refused to give taxpayers refunds of their own money unless they agreed to divulge personal, confidential information and fill out a W-9 IRS tax form before their own money would be returned to them,” Flickinger said in a written statement. “This has caused frustration and dissatisfaction among the taxpayers.”

Flickinger and his office’s solicitor, Lane Turturice, sued Sloane in December demanding that she stop the practice of requiring tax forms for people getting refunds.

The recent settlement cites a new fiscal policy the Washington County commissioners approved at their March 7 meeting, which effectively supersedes Sloane’s interoperation of how tax refunds should be handled. The policy states that only new individuals or businesses who wish to become vendors in the county must fill out the W-9 tax forms, and existing vendors must complete the form only if one is not currently on file. People or entities owed a tax refund are specifically exempt from filing the federal tax form, according to the new fiscal policy.

Flickinger estimates about $35,000 in tax refunds to countless people will now be released due to the agreement.

“I am pleased to report that after several court maneuvers and appearances, the Controller has seen the error of her failed policy and recently agreed to a Consent Order ending the case,” Flickinger said. “The Consent Order confirms the hierarchy of authority in the governance of county fiscal policy and paves the way for taxpayers to receive their money.”

Sloane’s eastern Pennsylvania-based attorneys, Patrick Symour and Derek Keightly, did not respond to a phone message seeking comment Wednesday.

In his written statement released Tuesday night, Flickinger said his office is ready to move forward now that the issue has been settled.

“Tom Flickinger believes that the time for accountability in government is NOW! At a time when taxpayer confidence in our national government is at an all-time low, we look to our local government leaders to show us the way and protect taxpayers,” Flickinger said. “The Washington County Commissioners and I have done just that for the taxpayers of Washington County.”