Who is a Class Member
The City of Long Beach Telephone Tax Refund settlement includes “all persons, including corporate and non-corporate entities wherever organized and existing, who paid telephone utility user taxes to the City of Long Beach for residential landline service, business landline service and mobile telephone service utilized between August 11, 2005 and December 19, 2008, other than purely local service, teletypewriter exchange service, or long distance telephone service where the charge varied by both time and distance.”
The settlement does not extend to prepaid wireless customers but does include prepaid wireless service providers.
If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other class action settlements you may be eligible for.
Settlement Amount
- $16,600,000.00
Estimated Award
- Up to 100% Refund
Settlement Class members who file a valid and timely claim and do not have supporting documentation can receive these amounts.
- $46.00 – Mobile Telephone Service
- $27.50 – Residential Landline Service
- $46.00 – Business Landline Service
If you have supporting documentation outlined in FAQ 5 you can claim the actual amount of telephone tax you paid, up to 100%.
Proof of Purchase
- To receive a standard payment, you do not need to submit any supporting documentation. To claim a refund based on the actual tax that you paid for telephone services between August 25, 2005 and December 19 2008, you can view what supporting documentation you need to submit in FAQ 5.
Claim Form
City of Long Beach Telephone Tax Refund Settlement Notes
- McWilliams v. City of Long Beach
- Case No. BC361469
- Pending in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles
In August 2006, plaintiff John McWilliams filed this class action lawsuit alleging telephone utility users taxes (UUT) collected by the City of Long Beach were illegal. Specifically, McWilliams asserted that the City of Long Beach had required telephone carriers to collect the UUT on services to which the City’s UUT ordinance did not actually apply. McWilliams passed away in December 2015, but established the John W. McWilliams Telephone Tax Claim Living Trust to ensure that his claims would survive him.
After a decade of litigation, the parties agreed to a settlement in which the City of Long Beach would payout $16.6 million to resolve the claims, while admitting no wrongdoing or liability. Complete details about the case and settlement are provided on the City of Long Beach Telephone Tax Refund settlement website.
McWilliams’ case is one of several similar cases and a recent $16.9 million settlement with the County of Los Angeles. Please note that these are two different settlements.
Class members who wish to object to the City of Long Beach Telephone Tax Refund settlement must do so by September 28, 2018. Those who wish to exclude themselves from the settlement must do so by October 15, 2018. Class members who wish to participate in the settlement must submit a claim form on or before September 15, 2018.
Important Dates
- 9/15/18: Claim Form Deadline for Out of Pocket Losses & Credit Monitoring
- 9/28/18: Objection Deadline
- 10/15/18: Exclusion Deadline
- 10/29/18: Final Hearing at 9:00 am PT* (class members do not need to attend this hearing in order to receive a slice of the settlement pie).
*Settlement Class Members who wish to speak at the hearing should check www.LBTaxRefund.com to confirm that the date or time of the Hearing has not been changed.
Contact Information
- Mail: McWilliams v. City of Long Beach, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91304, Seattle, WA 98111
- Phone: 1-833-380-5573
- Email: info@LBTaxRefund.com
Class Counsel
- Daniel Krasner, Rachele R. Rickert, and Marisa C. Livesay of Wolf Haldenstein Alder Freeman & Herz LLP
- Jonathan W. Cuneo of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP
- Nicholas E Chimicles and Timothy N. Matthews of Chimicles & Tikellis LLP
- Jon Tostrud of Tostrud Law Group PC
Settlement Website