Welcome to the state of Ohio

A few weeks ago, I started the process of refinancing the commercial mortgage on my business property here in Redville.

About three weeks ago I get a call from my banker who tells me there are two liens against my property from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

His title company told me to call collection attorney representing the state to get it cleaned up. (FYI whenever you have an outstanding state tax debt the Ohio Attorney General farms collection work out to some law firm who probably gives generously to a political campaign or two or three).

For the record, subsequent to a divorce and my start up I did owe lots of back taxes. See my previous posts for the financial mess I was in during my Y2K mid life crisis. However, I will swear on a box of Bibles that I have not received one notice from the state indicating that I owed money in the past six to seven years.

Second, I've refinanced my mortgage with another local institution 3 years ago. I cannot believe they never found this on their title search.

Third, one of the liens was filed in 1999 for taxes due in 2001 and 2002. I guess ODJFS has an in house psychic who can predict that you won't pay your taxes in those years.

When I called the AG, she told me that one of the liens had been paid but I still owed $476 on another one. I asked her why the lien had never been released on the first one, she could not explain nor could she tell me exactly what period(s) I owed on this second one.

"So I'm supposed to take it on blind faith that you're correct that I owe this money?"

"Yes, if you want the lien released."

So she gives me instructions on how to pay this online but the AG's site won't accept my claim number, sparking the thought that maybe I don't really owe this.

So I called a contact at the ODJFS office and asked him to provide me a statement showing amounts due and payments for the years 1999 - 2003 which he proceeds to tell me their computer system can't do.

"Sir, our programs are from the 1980's we really don't have the ability to run that kind of a statement."

"So I'm supposed to take it on blind faith that I actually owe this money?"

"Sir, according to our records you do not owe any money."

"Then how do I get these liens released?"

To be fair, the ODJFS people were nice and they did expedite my situation, for which I very much appreciate. But what does this story say about the messed up condition of the state of Ohio?

I have another story related to a guy who wanted to start a computer business. He got a vendors license but failed to ever file a sales tax return. His total real sales tax owed was about $150.00.

When you fail to file a sales tax return the state "assesses" a tax based on an estimate of what's owed. In this guy's case they estimated sales tax of $6,000/month for 23 months. As he said, if I would have ever done that much business, I'd be retiring. With interest and penalty, the total tab came to over $200,000. His total real sales tax owed was about $150.00.

It took a year and lots of legal work to get that resolved but not before he decided to "run away" to Tennessee.

So congratulations state of Ohio, you're putting Ohioans to work..... figuring out an exit strategy.