I love stories like this.
Cary Malchow wanted to show how big his spring property tax bill really was.
So he paid the bill on Monday in change and $1 bills — all $12,656.07 of it.
“I did it so people can physically see what $12,000 is,” said Malchow, who noted that amount included taxes on his home, his Wheeling Avenue business Outfitter and his rental properties.Malchow was one of the organizers of the July 26 “Jam the Downtown” tax protest. He said on Monday that paying his tax bill this way was intended as a similar demonstration to drive home the point of how high local property taxes had gone. “It’s putting me in a financial bind,” he said.
When people pay such bills by check or by an escrow account through the bank, taxpayers might not notice the amount of the bill as directly, Malchow said to explain his reasoning. “When you pay in cash, you have a tendency to feel that pain a little more.”
There was a time when you had to sit down and write a check for your taxes every year. It’s funny how after they started taking it out of your paycheck the amount of tax started going up so much.
On a purely practical level, Malchow had to plan ahead to pull it off.
He began working with a couple of banks last week to make sure he could get enough change and small bills, and noted Monday evening he was “still out of breath” from carrying such a heavy load.
He acknowledged that the gesture complicated things for the county treasurer’s office — “The office wasn’t too happy with me, but I totally understand” — and noted that he didn’t intend the unconventional form of payment as a slap at the staffers in that office, just as a peaceful means of drawing public attention to the issue of high taxes.
Though he will have a similar bill for the fall installment, Malchow said he doesn’t intend to pay in such small denominations again, having made his point this time. [source]
I’m guessing Mr. Malchow is a supporter of the Fair Tax.
