Vision? Don Baack has always had a clear vision. He has dedicated the last 30 years to Southwest Trails, a 50-mile system of pathways in a community that struggles to make sidewalk investments.
Prescience? Baack, 87, is armed to the teeth. However, vision impairment is a crippling condition.
His left eye is starting to fail, while his right eye is completely destroyed. Baack seldom misses a step on his daily excursions along his favorite trails due to his relentless fight with macular degeneration, but occasionally he finds it difficult to read the fine print on documents like property tax statements.
The most recent episode in Multnomah County’s mercenary vendetta against the tortured souls who continue to live and pay taxes in the sylvan valley is thus brought to light.
Baack signed a check for $15,830.30 in mid-November to pay the property taxes on his 76-year-old southwest Portland home. For fifty-two years, Baack and his spouse have resided in the residence within a short distance from Ida B. Wells High School.
Baack was given a 3% discount on his total assessment of $16,325.05. This was because he was paying every last penny of the total amount due.
It’s a hefty amount, over 60% more than Clackamas County property taxes for a comparable home. Baack made the payment without protest. The check cleared his bank on Friday, November 22. That weekend, Baack realized his error while checking his account balance:
In reality, his tax amount was $15,835.30, which was $5 more than the check he had sent to the county. He misread the amount owed, even with a magnifying lens.
Baack’s southwest Portland home.Duin
Baack was diligently checking his statement because this is not the first time his eyes have betrayed him. Two years ago, he made a $60 error, whereupon he discovered that Multnomah County, flush with revenue, does not send out notices of underpayment until the next bill is due.
Why bother, when the county isempowered to levya monthly penalty charge of 1.333% on the balance due?
Baack therefore made amends right away. He immediately sent in the $5, along with a dollar processing fee, which country tax collectors recorded on Nov. 26.
But when Baack checked back with Multnomah, he was told his $5 error had transformed, at the stroke of midnight of the payment deadline, into a charge of $171.68.
To square accounts, Baack needed to fork over another $166.
That s an extraordinarily large charge for a five-dollar mistake, Baack notes.
And an error Baack discovered almost immediately and remedied before Thanksgiving.
Given that Multnomah County commissioners and Chair Jessica Vega Pederson are frequently pleading with the public to pardon their errors in handling the homeless, animal control, ambulance response times, a sobering center, and predatory tax collection methods, you might think that calls for a grace period.
But in persistent calls to the county, Baack received conflicting messages.
He was first told there is no margin for error and no opportunity to appeal. In a Dec. 12 email, an employee from Assessment and Taxation explained that because Baack paid $5 less than the full amount, he was allowed only a 2% discount on his daunting property tax bill, resulting in the $171.68 balance due.
Baack has spent almost 30 years designing and policing a network of pedestrian trails in the city.Duin
As with almost everything we are tasked in this office, she added, the procedures are dictated by state statute and not something over which we have discretion.
The County s hands are tied, Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, the county s communications director, added Friday in an email. We can t grant another 1% discount because the law does not allow the county assessor to interpret the intent of a taxpayer. It doesn t feel fair to this individual. But we re trying to be fair to all taxpayers in the county. And fairness means the rules are the same for everyone.
I struggle to imagine the taxpayer who would feel slighted if the assessor took Baack at his word about a lousy five bucks.
What s more, when Baack spoke to Allison Wellman, the tax collection supervisor, he said she told him that if a county commissioner called and asked her to give Baack credit for payment without penalty, she would take that into consideration.
Jessica? Sharon? Julia? Lori? The bill is in your court.
As previously noted, Baack has lived in Multnomah County for 52 years. In the last decade alone, he has paid more than $133,000 in property taxes. All the while, he has volunteered hundreds of hours every year designing trails and constructing staircases that will allow his neighbors to hike over hill and dale long after his eyes have given up the ghost.
Those eyes are failing, not his belief once voiced by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. that taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.
He s not asking for special favors or a holiday gift. He s asking that the local tax collectors be more reasonable when residents who clearly intend to submit full payment on their property taxes make an inconsequential mistake.
He s asking for a reduction in late fees when residents have a history of compliance, and outreach to aging citizens who may not know tocheck onlinefor their property records and possible interest charges.
In Multnomah County, it would seem, Don Baack is asking for the moon.
— Steve Duin
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!
