OPINION: Unforgiving tax deadlines are not fair

Five weeks ago, my brother had a near-fatal motorcycle accident in Orlando, Florida. It was a Saturday. We were having a garage sale at our home in Bigfork, enjoying ourselves as we met new people and had friendly conversations. At 10 a.m., my sister received a phone call from our nephew telling us that our youngest brother had been airlifted to the hospital following an accident.

An elderly lady had decided to turn in front of him on a six-lane highway from the farthest of six lanes. He was traveling 50 to 60 mph. He hit her broadside at that speed; he was on his motorcycle. It was only through the mercies of God that he was spared.

My brother is third youngest of nine. It was difficult to focus on anything else in those two weeks before my sister and I decided to travel to Orlando to be near him and to support his wife. We’ve been here two weeks and he has been in the neurological ICU fighting for his life for five weeks. He’s still listed as critical, being as yet unable to breathe on his own.

You can imagine my surprise when I looked at my calendar and realized that I hadn’t paid our property taxes that were due May 31. My husband and I are retired and pay our own taxes. I promptly called the Flathead County property tax office and explained what happened. I asked if the late fee and interest charges could be waived.

I was told that they are never waived. I told her that we have faithfully paid our property taxes on time for 16 years and she let me know that this didn’t matter. I then asked to speak to the supervisor and I was told that she would only say the same thing. I was transferred to the supervisor’s voicemail and left a message asking her to call me back. Of course, she never returned my call.

I should not be surprised. Why should one small person matter to such a large enterprise? I’ll tell you why. Because it’s all of us law-abiding citizens who make up the daily bread of the clerk I first spoke to and her supervisor. It’s not a hard thing to grasp. In the olden days, these two people, and the countless hundreds of others like them, were called public servants. I don’t know what they call themselves now. But they are certainly not “servants.”

So, on top of all the other fees and charges that have accumulated in our property taxes, we will pay the delinquent charge and the interest fee for paying 25 days late out of 16 years. Where’s the justice in that?

Daniels is from Bigfork.