Oklahoma tax return checks expected soon

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahomans who filed near the April 15 deadline may finally see their income tax refund checks soon. <br><br>Checks should be arriving within a week, but returns with errors may take

Thursday, July 18th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Oklahomans who filed near the April 15 deadline may finally see their income tax refund checks soon.

Checks should be arriving within a week, but returns with errors may take longer to process, said Paula Ross, an Oklahoma Tax Commission spokeswoman.

The commission has about 10,000 tax returns left to process, down from the 250,000 tax returns that remained unprocessed in May. Returns were delayed because budget cuts forced the agency to lay off 225 temporary employees and cancel a contract with a data-entry company.

The Tax Commission moved employees from other divisions into the area responsible for entering data on the returns and making copies, she said.

``Basically, we had a good filing season,'' Ross said. ``We were getting returns out in less than a week up until April 10.''

The delays prompted many complaints from the public.

``We understand that people want their money,'' Ross said.