"Not again," she cried.
Beth had seen a lifetime of corruption. She did her share to expose it. Something didn't feel right. She thought this was resolved. Her license plate had been surrendered to the Motor Vehicle Administration . A receipt from that transaction was even sent to the clerk in the tax office. She even called to ensure she was following 'their' protocol. They assured her everything was paid in full. But if there was any additional charge, they would send a bill out. That was seven months ago. Last year.
It was the third bill in the pile. She didn't get many. It was from the county where she lived for some eleven years. Her beloved mountains. A thin envelope she couldn't imagine what was inside. Seven months ago. Last year. Clearly a mistake or maybe they were sending me a receipt stating I owed them nothing. She opened it with her late stepfather's golf club mail opener. She wanted whatever was inside that narrow envelope to be fully intact.
SECOND NOTICE. She didn't even receive a first notice. They had her address. Her eyes panned the lines. $15.04. There was no mention in the bill of any finance charge. Or any means to account for the $15.04 bill she received. An immediate telephone call to a not-too-sharp pencil in the drawer clerk provided no information and lots of nastiness. In fact, the clerk even threatened her with garnishing her wages. The call to the Business Manager resulted in him being 'in a meeting.' Beth never received a call back from him. She would have from the former business manager. It was a fair administration. Accountable.
Garnish my wages? Whooooa.
That has gone a bit too far. She even spoke to a lawyer friend about it. Bureacracies! He had troubles of his own with the county where his office building was.
Another friend reminded her that the county has unequal treatment for individuals. Some people get away with not paying their county 'revolving loans for ten years' while fining others who are 'late' in their auto and property tax payments.
Beth began to wonder. She even spent time reviewing late charges. Of course, it took a Freedom Of Information Act letter to force the county to open their records. By this time Beth was more than curious what was going on.
Closer inspection demonstrated there were a lot of finance charges meted out. With no FIRST notices. There wasn't any line item or paper trail to list the finance charges garnered. She began to wonder who was pocketing the change. She also remembered the note she received last week from a high level politico.
"I bet you are glad you moved out of this county. I..."
While Beth didn't want to speak it aloud, this individual referred to ineptness, corruption at the highest levels, between branches even. That most of it goes unnoticed...or worse, cheeks are turned the other way. This individual inquired about the fairness in my newly adopted county.
"Corruption has no boundaries," Beth reminded the politico.
The Sheriff's Office conveniently looked the other way. The feathered nest thing. So Beth paid the bill, she didn't even contest the $1.11 finance fee.
She had asked for a sign to affirm that and she got it. The Universe has a way of telling us when it is time to go.
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