Bills, bills, bills

The Jazz Fest just ended, but anyone passing by 30 Church Street today probably thinks they're holding a concert. I'm told the lines stretch around the block over the city tax bill everyone just got. My tax payment amounts to 2/3 of my gross income this month.

And speaking as a single mother who never was extraordinarily well-off to begin with, I have to say first, isn't it nice when people pay their bills? Three cheers for Capitalism and the Free Market. Our society is based on people being solvent enough to provide a service and invoice the customer.

Trust me, I used to be the kind of person who paid ALL my bills, ON TIME. It doesn't make me happy that I've been through foreclosure and I regularly duck calls from bill collectors. But you can't really NOT pay your Property and Income Taxes, because the IRS and city and county tax assessors know where you live. And as a taxpayer, even though I'm a single mother raising her daughter without child support, my wallet appears to be a magical, mythical place of abundant funds. If those revenue seekers decide at some point 5 years from now that I underpaid my taxes, they can just reach into my "deep" pockets and take what they feel I owe them, along with penalties and interest.

The same isn't true, however, of the STAR exemptions, which, although I've lived here since 2008 with my school age child, I haven't been able to get, though I asked and asked and even hired professionals to help me figure it out. Now that I find out I've been eligible, I can only apply for next year! Over the past 4 years, I've apparently lost out on around $3,000. That would go a long way right now, but retroactive tax assessments only go one way.

Who's supposed to benefit from the STAR exemption? People who live in the city in their homes, earning less than $500,000 a year (try $36,000, folks). Maybe single mothers with school age children who need public assistance and even HEAP would reasonably qualify for it. This rates a look-back, doesn't it? It sure would help us pay our other bills and keep the local small business owners solvent. And I'm not even asking for interest and penalties because YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN I WAS LIVING IN THE CITY WITH MY DAUGHTER APPLYING FOR PUBLIC AID. I'm sure I'm not the only single mother scraping by, clinging to her home by her fingernails. Don't tell ME you're not going to give me MY money, which was mine the whole time, whether I applied for it or not. This is not a game show.

Guess what, City Tax Assessors? Keep pissing us off. We know where YOU live. 30 Church Street.