I live in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, USA. One of the oddities of local governments is an elected position called the “Tax Collector”. Essentially this person is in a popularity contest position, presumably to look after the collection of local taxes.
The first thing that I find disturbing is that for virtually every tax or license fee imposed at the state, county, or local level I pay the county tax collector. The most notable exception is sales tax which goes right to the state.
The other thing, and certainly the most disturbing, is that my check must be made payable to:
John F. Chafin, Tax Collector
Wouldn’t it make more sense to write a check to:
Leon County Tax Collector
After all, the state doesn’t require sales tax remittance be posted to:
Jim Zingale, Florida Department of Revenue, Director.
And the IRS surely doesn’t require me to make my checks out to THEIR director.
Just another pet peeve…