THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310567
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 29 lines
Stop fretting, all you federal retirees whose pensions were taxed illegally. The government has a message: The check's in the mail.
They mean it. Gov. George F. Allen announced Thursday that the first settlement checks reimbursing some 150,000 illegally taxed retirees will be mailed today.
Virginia was one of several states that taxed federal retirement benefits while exempting benefits of state employees, a practice ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989.
``This first payment signals the closure of an issue that has hovered unnecessarily over Virginia for far too long,'' Allen said in a press release Thursday.
More than 90 percent of Virginia's federal retirees accepted the state's offer to settle the ongoing litigation issue. Those who accepted the settlement will share $60.34 million this year, with subsequent payments scheduled each March 31 through 1999.
About 54,000 retirees will be mailed their full settlement payment today. by CNB