STOISITS: MISCALCULATION OF WASTE DISPOSAL FEES

A mother from Leobendorf in Lower Austria turned to the Ombudsman Board with a problem: during a period of three years and eleven months the municipality erroneously doubled her waste disposal fees.

The error had occurred after the woman had arranged for having her waste picked up every two weeks and not once a month as before. At the time she just had given birth and hence expected her household to produce more waste. In 2011 the young mother decided to have her waste picked up once a month as before. This is when a co-worker of the municipal staff discovered the mistake.

However the municipality declared that it would credit exclusively the amount for three years. The remaining eleven months had been ignored. For this reason the young mother turned to the Ombudsman Board.

The Ombudswoman in charge examined the case and pointed out to the mayor that in reference to the legal provisions of the Federal Fiscal Code concerning the reimbursement of credits miscalculated fees are to be reimbursed completely.

During the examination carried out by the Ombudsman Board the municipality of Leobendorf finally also ascertained the reimbursement of the fees for the remaining eleven months as well as the transfer of the amount to the account of the young mother.