In the beginning, she almost thought it was funny.
Some clerical worker in the state tax office in Columbus accidently hit an extra digit on a keyboard, and suddenly the state thought Laurie Schmader’s 2005 income was $208,717.
In her dreams.
Her salary that year was a mere $20,717.
Please note the similarity between those two figures.
Clearly, somebody punched in an extra “8,” accidentally multiplying Schmader’s pay by more than 10.
You’d think that would be an easy error to fix. She did, too. But that was nearly five years ago.
Last weekend, the Cuyahoga Falls woman got the latest in a long series of letters, this one from the Board of Tax Appeals ordering her to appear at a hearing March 22 in Columbus.
Driving to Columbus to provide the same proof she provided repeatedly long ago is not only a monumental waste of her time, but also a financial hit. She will have to spend a bunch of money on gasoline and miss a full day of work.
As Schmader sits at a table in her small apartment on the fifth floor of one of the big Wyoga Lake Commons buildings across from Walsh Jesuit High School, she unveils a case study in government at its worst.
Schmader opens a file folder that has grown to more than an inch thick and displays the written exchanges between her and the Ohio Department of Taxation.
She shows a visitor 10 years’ worth of W-2s, as well as her annual Social Security statements and a document Ohio keeps requesting over and over, the IRS Wage and Income Transcript.
Schmader has worked at the same place for 11 years — Allstate Insurance in Hudson — and even now her latest W-2 is still only $28,624.
“I started out at the bottom because I had no career,” she says. “I was a stay-at-home mom. When I started at Allstate in 2001, I made $9.30 an hour.”
Long divorced, she says she has no other income.
Add up a decade’s worth of her W-2s and the total wouldn’t be too far beyond the $208,000 the state thinks she made in 2005.
The big file folder also traces her mounting desperation.
Back in June 2007 — a month after she got her first notice that she owed additional state taxes of $11,000 — she sat down and wrote a casual return letter, longhand, accompanied by a copy of her W-2 and a document from the IRS.
“I was told by one of your office personnel to ask the federal government for a tax account transcript for 2005, which I am including in this letter,” she wrote. “I wish I made that much money! It would be truly a miracle!”
She figured the misunderstanding was resolved. But a year later, she got another letter from the state, this one saying her obligation had grown to $15,000.
Once again, she sent the IRS transcript. Surely, she thought, her misadventure would be over.
Far from it.
In May 2010, she was sent a “final determination” that she did indeed owe back taxes, this time to the tune of $17,000. In response, she not only again sent her W-2 and the federal transcript but also included her annual Society Security statement showing her income through the years.
“This is surreal,” she says. “I never thought it would go to this point. It’s like they don’t even look at what I send them.”
As the nightmare dragged on, she became angry. But that anger has turned to fear, a feeling of powerlessness and a massive level of stress.
“If they garnish my wages,” she says, “I might as well throw in the towel. It wouldn’t work [financially].”
Schmader hasn’t hired a lawyer because she can’t afford to. Even if she could, why should she have to?
On Feb. 13, on the brink of panic, she contacted me and her state representative, Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson.
Roegner’s office immediately contacted the office of Attorney General Mike DeWine, which quickly contacted the tax department. By the end of the week, the tax folks assured Roegner’s office they would take a close look at Schmader’s situation.
The tax department won’t comment because of privacy laws. For the same reason, it won’t even discuss the specifics with Roegner.
Roegner seemed optimistic, though, emailing a statement to me saying she “look[s] forward to it being expeditiously and fairly resolved.”
So soon?
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.