Dear Action Line: There’s a hard-paper insert with our La Plata County property tax bill that basically says the post office is slow and can’t be trusted. And that sending a check by mail is a big gamble. We’re told that paying electronically via our checking account is fastest and bestest. Is this a scare tactic? Does La Plata County have an issue with the Postal Service? – P.O.’d at the P.O.?
Dear P.O.’d: Here’s the full sentence from the county treasurer’s office, in case you haven’t seen it or tossed yours. It’s preceded by a line saying that credit and debit cards incur a 2.19% convenience fee, and that your (in bold) “bank account routing number and checking account number incurs NO FEE”:
“Paying by electronic means avoids using the post office, which can take weeks to process, adding additional charges to your account, and can result in your check getting lost in the mail.”
Action Line is old-fashioned, doesn’t like typing sensitive information onto the internet any more than absolutely necessary, and still trusts the Postal Service, even after the mail processing was shifted from here to Albuquerque and following the Lance Armstrong debacle.
Why change?
Well, let’s hear the argument, courtesy of County Treasurer Allison Aichele:
“According to the banking industry, it costs between $5 and $10 dollars to process a paper check,” she wrote in an email. “When we have to return a paper check, usually because of a duplicate payment, that cost can go as high as $25 per payment.”
The $5 to $10 is the cost of staff time in handling the check, Aichele explained. It takes 15 minutes, for example, to process one refund check, “and it has to go through four people who sign off on it (auditor recommendations for internal controls).”
So to reduce the county’s costs, Aichele’s department is encouraging the electronic banking account payments, which generally cost the county less than 10 cents per transaction, are faster and are more accurate.
“Also, we are still getting returned mail from last year – even some with postmarks from 1994,” Aichele said.
“We encourage taxpayers to go online (to the) treasurer’s page to obtain their tax information. ... Taxpayers can also call our office (970-382-6352) to obtain an electronic notice and we are happy to process tax payments over the phone.”
If you pay by mail, it takes longer and “payments can be late and start to accrue late-payment interest.”
Aichele said she makes sure payments will be secure “before using any technology.” Using Venmo, for instance, may be possible in the future but “the security is not there yet for government payments. But it will come (in) the next few years. The next generation of taxpayers will demand it – so they will make it happen.”
So, if anyone cares, Action Line caved and paid online. It was getting close to the first-half payment deadline, which, by the way, is Feb. 28.
Dear Action Line: For the last several months I have been watching logging trucks traveling north on U.S. Highway 550 up the Animas Valley north of Durango. Any idea where they are coming from or where they are going? They sure make a lot of noise at all hours. – Stumped
Dear Stumped: As one might expect, the answer to this question is a bit hard to track down. But the U.S. Forest Service is one source for a possible answer. Scott Owen, public affairs officer for the San Juan National Forest, asked around and got a few tidbits from the natural resources staff:
Logging activity slows during the winter, but doesn’t stop, he said. This applies to all three districts of the San Juan.
“As of roughly two weeks ago all logging activity has ceased on both Pagosa Springs and Columbine districts, while the Dolores district still has active sales,” Owen reported. “Most of the Dolores-related log truck traffic is either staying local or traveling State Highway 145 (over Lizard Head Pass) toward Montrose.”
Other logging activity continues on non-Forest Service land, including Bureau of Land Management and private property.
So, there’s your slightly helpful answer.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Action Line could still make the second-half property tax payment by snail-mail check. And maybe send it now? Surely it’ll arrive by the June 15 deadline.
