Michigan Man Receives Seven-Cent Tax Shortfall Notice

For all the time and effort government officials can spend finding real tax cheats, it spends time on frivolous matters like billing a Michigan man seven cents, the amount he underpaid on his tax bill. 

According to CBS Detroit, Tom Sweet got a letter from the treasurer of Eaton County’s Brookfield Township “that included a receipt and photocopies of his bill and check.”

The letter also included an envelope and pre-paid postage, which means the municipality spent more than the seven cents it collected by collecting the seven cents.

The treasurer told Sweet that she “spent a lot more time than she needed to for seven cents.”

What the treasurer neglected to note was how much money was wasted in trying to collect seven cents. Scale that on a larger level, and it is clear why so many municipalities are in dire financial straits.