Thursday, December 13, 2012

Taxing My Nerves

Where do I even begin? Somebody has to be joking, right? Our government in action never ceases to amaze me. People never cease to amaze me. How is it possible that this is even a headline?
"St. Louis County Tax Collector Owes Personal Property Taxes"
Before you react, you must realize that this woman was JUST hired; this isn't a matter of employers not keeping up to date on current employees, this is a matter of employers not doing proper checks on potential employees BEFORE hiring. Make that government employers.

The person just hired by St. Louis County to supervise the collection of real estate and personal property taxes has not paid her personal property taxes since 2008, nor has her husband. And, they filed for bankruptcy last year. Can you imagine? That is - plain and simple - wrong. If I were to receive an unpaid notice from her, I'd be furious. 

But will she be let go now that her 'secret' has been discovered? It does not appear so. Director of Revenue Eugene Leung, who checked her real estate tax records but not her personal property taxes or financial standing before hiring her, claims “knowing what I know now, she’s still the most qualified person for the job.” Seriously?

I'd like to know who else applied. Jobs are still scarce, and there are plenty of folks with extensive financial backgrounds looking for work. I find it hard to believe there aren't other more qualified individuals out there. Did they not apply or were they overlooked? 

And what I find particularly flabbergasting is that this woman had the nerve to apply for the job in the first place. I occasionally don't manage to return my books to the library right on time and have incurred some minor fines over the years. In my defense, I view this as my civic duty - it helps fund the purchase of new books after all, right?!!! I always pay my fines immediately, but in the back of my mind, I wouldn't even have the guts to apply for a job at the library. I would assume they would check my track record and not want to hire someone who didn't always return materials when they were due. She must be laughing all the way to the bank. Maybe I need to rethink my whole job search approach.

3 comments:

  1. Wow. That's unbelievable. I am often frustrated when I talk to friends about their government jobs. I asked a pregnant friend if she would be taking the additional weeks for Paid Family Leave. She works for the county and said that she doesn't qualify for the benefit because she doesn't pay into it. What? A mandatory tax that is automatically deducted from every California paycheck and since she works for the county, she doesn't have to pay it? How is that fair? Somehow, I wonder if government hires strictly based on education level and years of experience, not on a person's ability to perform. Then, the benefits they offer their employees are paid by our tax dollars, often times employees don't even need to pay into those retirement programs. Very frustrating indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, is it just me or does it seem like we are hearing of more and more of these cases lately? I don't know if it's happening more often or if it's that more are getting caught.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a really good question. I would agree if nothing else we are certainly hearing about it a great deal. There are so many politicians and political appointees who have "cheated" or "forgotten" to pay their fair share of taxes. It's truly incredible.

      Delete