HOUSTON -- Property appraisals, protests and deadlines -- it's that time of year in Harris County. We've all got taxes on the brain. The Harris County Tax Office is busy sending out bills, but Local 2 Investigates discovered the tax office may owe you money.

KPRC Local 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis asked why Harris County is holding onto your hard-earned money.

Local 2 Investigates went door-to-door delivering the good news.

"We hear you guys are owed some money," Davis told the Mitchell family in southwest Houston.

"They owe you $4,027," she told another woman in Humble.

"Do you think you could use $5,200?" Davis asked Esther Martinez when she opened the door of her home on Irvington.

In all, we found $37.2 million just sitting at the Harris County Tax Office. It's money many of you overpaid. And 57,875 taxpayers paid too much and may not even know it.

"I just thought people aren't going to know this," said mortgage banker Shelia Crocker. "There is no way you would know that the money is there."

Crocker discovered a database on the Harris County Tax Office Web site that lists everyone who overpaid.

"I think everyone will find someone they know who's on this list," said Crocker.

We found Marisa and Devoda Davison on Houston's northeast side are owed more than $4,000.

"What could you do with $4,000 right now?" Davis asked Marisa.

"A lot," she answered. "We have a son who's going to be graduating soon. I mean, just a lot."

But we discovered while the tax office shows the Davisons are due a refund, their current tax bill shows they actually owe more than $1,000.

What's more, we learned if the Davisons don't request a refund of the overpayment in three years, the Harris County Tax Office keeps it for good.

In 2008, Harris County and the taxing districts it collects for kept a total of $7,301,694.52. It was all money that was never claimed.

"If you don't know about it, how you going claim it?" asked Davison.

That's exactly what we wanted to know.

Is Harris County doing enough to let people know they're owed money?" Davis asked Tax Assessor-Collector Leo Vasquez.

"I think we can always do more," Vasquez said.

Vasquez says his office mails out letters to everyone who overpays, asking the taxpayer to apply for a refund.

"Don't you assume that people want this money back if they overpaid?" Davis asked the tax collector.

"Unfortunately that is the tax code, so we have to follow this procedure," Vasquez said.

It's a lot like getting a letter and balloons from Publisher's Clearinghouse, but if you miss the letter, your only other shot at discovering you overpaid is by stumbling across your name on the tax office Web site. Even then, getting your money back is not easy.

"You can not just fill out a form and say send me that money," Crocker explained. "That will not happen."

Erma Mitchell received a letter that she overpaid her taxes by $123, but she says the tax office wants payment information, like canceled checks and receipts, before they'll give it back.

"Do you think it could be easier?" Davis asked Mitchell.

"Well, yeah," Mitchell replied. "They sent me a letter in our name, so why not send the check at the same time?"

"There are other circumstances where, again, maybe a mortgage company made a payment and if we send the money back to the taxpayer directly and not the group that made the payment, that could create some problems," Vasquez said.

Some of the most common reasons taxpayers overpay is when their taxes are escrowed. The mortgage company may send in too large of a payment or the homeowner may pay, not realizing the mortgage company already did.

In those instances, Vasquez says, the tax office needs to send the refund back to whoever actually paid it.

"This is money that belongs to me," said Esther Martinez, referring to the $5,281.58 she overpaid. "And they should be able to know who that money belongs to."

Martinez paid the taxes on her northeast side home and so did her mortgage company, but the refund application posted on the tax office's Web site doesn't tell taxpayers like Martinez that if her mortgage company paid the extra amount, they will deny her request for a refund.

"Are there a lot of flaws in this system?" Davis asked Vasquez.

"Again, I would characterize that this system could be more streamlined and more user friendly," he answered.

Vasquez says his office follows the rules spelled out in the Texas Property Tax Code.

It's why he says he can't simply give Martinez or any taxpayer a credit for next year's taxes.

But since we pointed out the hassles facing homeowners, Vasquez said he can and will make getting the millions a little easier.

"We will work hard to make it a more streamlined system," he told Davis. "Again, our goal is not to keep the money. Our goal is to get the money back to the consumers and citizens as quickly and as painlessly as we can."

The Tax Office has changed the system since our interview. They say from now on, if you overpay in one year, your next tax bill will show the overpayment and how much you are owed.

Vasquez has also set up a phone bank to try and call all of the taxpayers on the list to let them know they are owed money and how to get it back.

Want to find out if you're on the list? Visit www.tax.co.harris.tx.us/balancedue.asp.

The Texas Property Tax Code says that if you don't apply for a refund within three years of making an overpayment, you waive your right to a refund.

Read the rules about tax overpayments in Chapter 31.11 of the Tax Code.