Thousands of Allegheny County residents are faced with a question: fight for a tax refund or sign a waiver to make the issue go away?

WTAE Call 4 Action reporter Susan Koeppen says a taxpayer made a successful court challenge of the personal property tax, which was collected on stock held in out-of-state companies in 1993 and 1994. The tax was not collected on the stock of companies based in Pennsylvania.

The county was left with two options: offer refunds or collect tax that was not paid on Pennsylvania stock. Instead, the county is offering taxpayers the chance to sign a release form, which is being mailed to their homes.

"We don't want to levy this tax and go back and collect," said George Janocsko, assistant county solicitor. "We won't collect this tax if you decide to give up your right to a refund."

Taxpayers have until Aug. 1 to decide what they want to do. Most refunds would be nominal, and a lot of paperwork would be required to get them, according to the county.

For more information, call (412) 350-4636 or click here to link to a more detaled explanation on the county's Web site.

If you take no action, the county will continue its attempts to contact you and could come after you for taxes you may owe.