by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The parties in the ongoing tax refund class action lawsuit are hopeful they can reach an agreement during the third settlement conference scheduled for next week. Attorneys for Jeff and Rea Paeste and Sharon Zapanta have been meeting with the government's legal counsel and members of the governor's fiscal team to discuss the provisions of the permanent injunction that will spell out how and when the government will pay out tax refunds each year.

One sticking point has been the time frame for which the government pays out the refunds. The plaintiffs are looking at six months while the government was initially pushing for one year. The parties have made progress during the mediation sessions and are hopeful they can reach an agreement next week.

Meanwhile, the deadline for filing the proposed permanent injunction was continued from this Friday to November 16.