Idiots in Ohio

A woman in Ohio was arrested because she owed back taxes and hadn’t filed tax forms for 5 years. How much did she owe? Go on take a guess.

$1.16

The complete idiot of city manager Fred Enderle said the following,

“Whether it’s $1 they owe us or $1,000, it’s not fair to the rest of the public to not pursue that person. There is some expense involved, but it goes back to the principle. We have laws. The laws have to be complied with. At what cost do you stop enforcing the law?”

Some expense? Lets see, the city’s prosecution of Deborah Combs has already consumed resources? How much? I dunno, but I bet it is far, far in excess of the $1.16. After all, I bet those police officers get paid at least $20/hour. Factor in all the other expenses such as booking her, feeding her, all the paper work, etc. and I wouldn’t be surprised if so far Deborah Combs has cost the city $116. By the end it might very well cost the city $1,160 or even more.

Granted, one could argue the principle here, but this also imposes costs on the other citizens Loveland who foot the bill in this case, not Fred Enderle. What would be really amusing is if in the end, every citizen of Loveland ends up paying $1.16 for “going after Deborah Combs”. I know I’d laugh.

FILED UNDER: Economics and Business,
Steve Verdon
About Steve Verdon
Steve has a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and attended graduate school at The George Washington University, leaving school shortly before staring work on his dissertation when his first child was born. He works in the energy industry and prior to that worked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Division of Price Index and Number Research. He joined the staff at OTB in November 2004.

Comments

  1. Er…

    So, could I just out of the goodness of my heart offer to pay her tax bill and settle the matter?

  2. Herb says:

    This sounds just like Ohio.

    You know, they call themselves “Buckeyes”

    Websters definition of a buckeye= Useless Nut

    This is a typical example of an Ohio Bureaucrats phylosophy

  3. Maggie says:

    Actually, this sounds like “security guard syndrome”….give a guy a uniform and a badge and he’s suddenly General Patton.

    A little power in the wrong hands removes from their minds of every last vestige of common sense they might have possessed originally.

  4. ken says:

    Of course, Steve, the city did not know that after five years of not filing a tax return her total liability would be less than two dollars.

    Now if you had brought this up before they took action to pursue her for not filing, then you’d have a point. But as it is, once again, you make a fool out of yourself.

    The warrent gets issued, just like for unpaid parking tickets, and people get arrested on seemingly minor items like this all the time.

    What do you think should happen Steve? Do you think they should have just pretended to know what her tax liability was going to be and let her go?

  5. DL says:

    When I was in Korea as a very young man,I received a notice of warrant for my arrest from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After a panic discussion with the ships’s legal officer, he told me not to worry , just don’t go back there and they can’t touch you!(Mom,girlfriend,ffriends,etc weren’t important to him)
    It seems I had left the state to join the Navy, but later they sent me a car excise tax bill for $1.00 plus change. Seems that going through a circuitous route in boot camp,sick bay, new company two quick ship changes, and a long ride to Korea, caused all the early warnings mail to be missed. I receive the arrest warrant first. It did get straightened out. I did, however leave that state as quickly as I could!

  6. Steve Verdon says:

    Ken,

    What do you think should happen Steve? Do you think they should have just pretended to know what her tax liability was going to be and let her go?

    I’m pretty sure they have her income and other information and/or can get it. Hence it isn’t like they were completely in the dark. In fact, I’m pretty sure they new how much she owed when the warrant was arrested. What you think they had an accountant in the trunk of the cruiser and she had all her financials in the trunk of her car?

  7. ken says:

    I’m pretty sure they have her income and other information and/or can get it. Hence it isn’t like they were completely in the dark. In fact, I’m pretty sure they new how much she owed when the warrant was arrested.blockquote>

    How does the city know the net taxes due unless an individual files a tax return? You are too stupid. Is the city supposed to figure out the decuctions, depreciation, tax credits, etc etc etc for all of it’s citizens?

    According to your way of thinking a small city has the resources to figure out what each individuals income tax liabilities are going to be without any informantion provided by the individual, and be correct about it.

    Steve you really have to think before you write this nonsense.

    The problem was not the amount of money owed it was not filing a tax return for five years. If you think that they knew the tax liability was less than two dollars before the warrent was issued then you are completley out of touch with how how things work.

  8. Stevely says:

    Good grief, ken, do you make a living trolling the OTB blog? I swear every topic that gets posted here you have some snide and insulting thing to say, regardless of topic. Get out of your mother’s basement and get a job, loser.

  9. Rae says:

    Hmmmm, considering that I am related to Ms. Combs by marriage. I would have to say that since the matter has escalated so there is definitely something going on with the City of Loveland. If she can get them to recognize their mistakes and not be facing these charges then more power to her. Heck, she even has the city’s Mayor basically on her side…..You Go Girl!!!!!