Some of you may know I lived in New Orleans for 10 years, and was forced to move by Hurricane Katrina. (This was my house, which I miss..)

Well, we have been fighting the Louisiana dept of revenue for a good two years over our 2005 tax return. They just couldn't get straight that we moved in Sept. and earned income in another state. Of course, we paid Ohio tax on that income and Louisiana tax on what we earned in Louisiana.

For the past two years, Louisiana insisted that I owed Louisiana tax on all the income we earned, even what we earned in another state.

They wanted us to pay an additional $2,000 or so to them, and had issued a notice that they could start seizing assets. I was very steamed.

After multiple phone calls and multiple faxes of our 2005 state tax returns, I got a surprise in the mail today.

A refund check from Louisiana for a little more than $800. With no note.

I have no idea how they went from you owe us two grand to we owe you $800. I'm almost afraid to cash it, because it's probably yet another administrative error...

I loved New Orleans but general incompetence at every level of government and industry is why we chose to leave after the storm.

This whole tax nightmare has just been a constant reminder not to wax sentimental about going back!

Anyway, I don't know what to do now. Call about the refund or just cash the darn check?