Banner Graphic, Volume 9, Number 269, Greencastle, Putnam County, 20 July 1979 — Page 7

As some will soon discover, tax collector's reach can be awesome

By DEBOR AH R ANKIN c. 1979 N.Y. Times News Service NEW YORK The Internal Revenue Service is completing its initial round of audits of tax returns filed in April, and many taxpayers are getting their first brush with the IRS Collection Division. As some will soon discover, the reach of the tax collector, called a “revenue officer." can be awesome. He can garnish wages, take over bank accounts and seize and sell nearly all of the delinquent taxpayer's property including his home, car and business without a court order. The IRS can also collect overdue tax by retaining all or part of the tax refund that a person is due to receive in a subsequent year, a procedure known as offset. When the Administrative Conference, an independent government agency that studied the IRS. completed its project in 1975, it reported that there were few

opinion

LARRY GIBBS Publisher

Letter to the Editor Thanks, Greencastle, for July 4 celebration

To the Editor: At the invitation of my brother and his wife, the children and I spent the Fourth of July holiday in Greencastle. We arrived at the park about 12:30 p.m. and at 9 p.m. we watched the fireworks display, which ended one of the most pleasant events we’ve enjoyed this summer. We live in Indianapolis and last year there was an all-day event at Monument Circle to celebrate its renovation. There were bands, entertainment and 13-year-olds smoking pot. There was food and drink, and adults as well as children littering the pavement. The trash containers, which were convenient and plentiful, were of little use. You couldn’t let the children out of sight. In disgust, we left in an hour and

Cost of living top concern in poll

Third say financial situation worse

By EVANS WITT Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Inflation has wrecked the budgets of millions of American families, with nearly a third of the public now saying their financial situation has worsened in the last year, an Associated Press-NBC News poll shows. That perception of battered personal finances is directly related to the public’s judgment that President Carter is doing a poor job handling the nation’s economy. And, despite the long lines at gas stations, the cost of living is still the top concern of Americans, the poll found. Thirty-two percent of those interviewed said their families are financially worse off now than a year ago. That is the largest group to report such financial decline in the past three years and is up from 29 percent in March. Twenty-two percent said their financial picture has improved in the past year, down from 26 percent four months ago. Forty-five percent said there has been no change the same as in March. One percent of the 1,600 adults interviewed by telephone Monday and Tuesday were not sure. Poorer Americans are the most likely to say their family budget has been battered

William F. Buckley

Seldom has so much energy been expended to yield so little

If the idea is to conserve energy, President Carter’s speech was a poor example. Seldom has so much energy been expended by so many to yield so little. The homiletic passages by the president were entirely correct. It is true that much of America has become self-indulgent, true that we lust after material comforts, true that we have little appetite for sacrifice. But in what way has Jimmy Carter hoisted the banner? I. CONCERNING THE freezing of oil imports at the 1977 level: What good will freezing at that level do if OPEC, say a year, or even a few months from now, raises its prices? If it raises the price of oil by 50 per cent - comparable to the raise this year -- then we might as well be increasing our imports by 50 per cent at current prices

guidelines or controls over the vast powers of the Collection Division. It also found enormous differences in the ways the government treats delinquent taxpayers, a finding that was buttressed by a private study that uncovered wide variations among states in the frequency with which the Revenue Service seized property or money. Delinquent taxpayers in Maryland, for example, were more than three times as likely to have forcible collection measures used against them than those in Wyoming. The IRS says that it has been trying to smooth out these regional variations. “I think that a lot of progress has been made since the Administrative Conference report,” said Kenneth E. Luke, director of the Collection Division, in a telephone interview. “There used to be some people in management positions who had a very

ERICBERNSEE Managing Editor

haven’t been to an event downtown since. So much for life in the big city. What a pleasant contrast when we came to Greencastle. The bands, dancers and organized activities were refreshing. It wasn t necessary to guard your picnic supplies from theft, the children had a delightful time with more freedom of movement and most of the people picked up after themselves. The fireworks display was fantastic - much more elaborate than I had expected and brought a beautiful finish to a lovely day. My appreciation and thanks goes to everyone who donated their time and energies and we are looking forward to next year. Susan S. Calhoun Indianapolis

and wealthier Americans the least likely, the poll found. Forty percent of those making less than $15,000 a year said their financial situation has worsened in the last year, with only 16 percent saying it has improved. For those making $15,000 to $25,000 a year, 30 percent said their finances had suffered versus 30 percent who said they had improved. But of those making more than $25,000 a year, only 24 percent said they are financially worse off today, while 31 percent said their finances have improved. In each case, the remainder said there had been no change or they were not sure. Fifteen percent said Carter is doing an excellent or good job with the economy. Forty-three percent said it has been “only fair” and 39 percent gave him poor marks. Three percent were not sure. Although this month’s economic rating is slightly above that found in the May APNBC News poll, this is the lowest rating found in the lastest poll for any specific issue. Despite all the recent problems with gasoline shortages, inflation remains the top concern of Americans. Thirty-one percent of those questioned said the cost of living was the top problem

What did President Carter tell us about pressures we would bring on OPEC? The answer is: Nothing. He did cite the great effort mounted in 1942 to create a synthetic rubber industry. He did not mention that during that period we were fighting a war against those powers that were preventing us from buying rubber. As the saying goes, Ido not advocate war against the OPEC nations. I do advocate a policy designed to prevent a ruinous extortion. And besides, Mr. Carter’s jut-jawed announcement that never again in the history of America will we import more oil than we did in 1977 can only have brought a yawn at the chancelleries of the Persian Gulf. Because how much oil we import in 1981 is almost certainly a decision that won’t be made by ex-President Carter. 2. WHILE EXHORTING the American

hard-nosed attitude toward the collection of taxes,” he said. “They would give a business that was behind on its payroll taxes 24 hours to pay up or else. Now we feel it is more important to work with taxpayers to make them current.” However, this does not mean that the government is going soft on tax delinquents. Indeed, in a memorandum issued last month Luke discussed a new “enforcement philosophy” within the division. The memo addressed a 1977 Supreme Court decision prohibiting revenue officers from going in to private premises, including businesses, without a taxpayer's consent or a court order. As a result of the decision, IRS seizures of taxpayer property dropped from 16,413 in fiscal 1976 to 5,104 in 1978. The memo noted that this had caused concern in the field that the IRS was “discouraging” forced collection. “l,et us assure you this is not the case,"

'Even bigger celebration next year'

Enthusiasm already building for July 4,1980 |

One of the best stories to come out of Greencastle’s enjoyable Fourth of July celebration is one I promised my son I’d never repeat to a living soul. Ah, but what the heck, I can’t let a father-son relationship stand in the way of good copy. DURING THE AFTERNOON Fun Day program at Robe-Ann Park, my son and three other guys in the 9-to-l 1 age group shared the lead in the baseball throwing competition, each having pitched two bull’s eyes in eight attempts. So there they were, smugly standing around awaiting a “pitch off” to determine the winner, when, lo and behold, a young lady stepped to the line. Deliberately drawing back her arm and showing no hint whatsoever of being intimidated by the male presence, she tossed a ball squarely into the center of the target. When her second pitch hit the same mark, the boys stood in a stunned trance, one nearly choking on his bubble gum. By the time she’d thrown her eighth and final ball, she’d plunked five direct hits. Four lower jaws hit the ground simultaneously. The “pitch off” among the guys was good only for second place. THAT EPISODE WAS just one of the countless great memories spawned by the most successful one-day celebration this area has enjoyed in many years. The committee that organized the July 4 celebration met Friday morning to assess the day’s events and lay the preliminary groundwork for the Second Annual Fourth of July Celebration in 1980. “Thanks to the efforts of a lot of people, it was a great day,” reflected Mike Har-

facing the country today. Energy was cited by 28 percent. This is the same onetwo ranking found in other AP-NBC News polls this year. Of course, soaring prices for gasoline and heating oil are a major part of the perception of the energy problem, making it difficult to label the Cost of living and energy as two separate issues. After inflation and energy came morality, 17 percent; unemployment, 10 percent; crime, 10 percent; loss of national purpose, 9 percent; drop in value of U.S. dollar abroad, 7 percent; taxes, 6 percent; foreign affairs, 4 percent ; other issues, 5 percent; and not sure, 4 percent. The figures do not add up to 100 percent because the respondents were allowed to name one or two major concerns. As with any sample survey, the results of the AP-NBC News poll can vary from the opinions of all American adults simply because of variations in the sample. For results based on 1,600 interviews, the error margin due solely to chance variations in the sample is 3 percentage points. That is, there is only one chance out of 20 that the results of this survey vary from the opinions of all adults by more than 3 percentage points.

people to show courage, and to be disposed to sacrifice, President Carter showed exactly no courage. The only specific victim of his entire speech, other than the seven deadly vices, was the oil companies’ windfall profits. These he proposes to seize - in order to launch a great program for the production of more energy. What this means, when you stick it in boiling water and burn off the fat, is that he proposes that the energy business become a public rather than a private enterprise. To do this in the context of the speech in which he talks about bloated government, about government remote from the people, shows either great gall or great simplemindedness. In mentioning the reinvigoration of our search for energy, our president, summoning us to bravery on the field, fails

said an early draft of the memo, adding that officers should use caution, be judicious and consider alternatives before seizing property to settle a tax bill. Of course, such drastic measures are not a routine part of the tax-administration process. In fiscal 1978, the Revenue Service settled with 2.3 million tardy taxpayers and collected more than $3 billion from them. The vast majority of these settlements were “voluntary,” meaning that the taxpayer paid up without Government prodding, or as a result of varying degrees of persuasion and negotiation. The rest were “involuntary” settlements reached primarily by the exercise of government force. The government has two main avenues for enforced collection: the IRS can go after a taxpayer’s income, serving a levy, which is tantamount to garnishing his bank account or wages; or it can go after

Commentary

By LARRY GIBBS Publisher

mless, who has agreed to serve as general chairman of the celebration again in 1980. “Next year, July 4 is a Friday and we’re anticipating an even bigger celebration for the entire family.” Although the day began under ominous, overcast skies, this year’s initial celebration attracted a crowd that increased rapidly in size by early afternoon. Those who did stroll through the park during the day brought their appetites with them, as evidenced by a report presented Friday morning by John Lanie, concessions chairman. “THE FOLKS WHO operated the various food and tlrink stands were shocked by what happened,” Lanie said.

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even to mention thermonuclear energy - even in a catalogue of potential energy sources so comprehensive that it included everything except Laetrile. The American people are supposed to exhibit courage enough to face the moral equivalent of war. Their president doesn’t show courage enough to offend Jane Fonda. 3. MR. CARTER’S self-righteousness is distressing. He gave us to understand that among the fallen idols of America are the presidency, once revered but along came “Watergate”; and the notion that “our causes were always just,” and along came Vietnam. The presidency has not always been honored in America, and the Watergate scandal is hardly more sub versive of presidential moral authority than the huge distance between Jimmy Carter’s promises to the American people

his property, filing a lien, or court order that puts a hold against his property until the bill is paid. Before taking such extreme steps, however, the government ordinarily gives a delinquent taxpayer a chance to pay, although more immediate steps are taken if the government thinks the person is about to leave the country and his tax bill. At least three written notices are normally sent before a revenue officer moves to seize a person’s property. If the IRS seizes a person’s property, it may sell it at a public auction to the highest bidder. Recently, for example, two luxurious automobiles that belonged to Tongsun Park, the South Korean businessman, were sold at an IRS auction, A Mercedes was sold for $35,000 at the auction, and an Oriental rug fetched just over $6,000. Certain items, however, are exempt from seizure under the law. These in-

“ Virtually everyone sold out of everything, something they certainly had not expected. The Greencastle Junior High 4-H Club sold enough ice cream cones to empty 72 gallons, the American Legion depleted a supply of 300 dozen hamburger buns and Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church exhausted its supply of 50 pounds of soup beans. It was incredible.” Lanie said groups and organizations which participated this year already are talking about preparations for feeding the throng expected in 1980. Plans for next year have begun on a positive note as Bill Marley, finance chairman, reported donations of $627 toward buying fireworks and paying other expenses in 1980. "AS REPORTED EARLIER, $595.85 was tossed into the blankets that were passed among the crowd just before the fireworks display,” Marley reported. “Then, the next day, an unidentified gentleman came into the Savings and Loan, handed s3l to one of the girls and said he really enjoyed the fireworks. By the time I knew what was happening and came out of my office, he’d already gone. I still don’t know who he was, but we appreciate his generosity very much. “We know, too, that many people were missed when the blankets were passed in the park,” Marley added. “Anyone who would like to contribute to next year’s program can do so by sending their donations to the Chamber of Commerce Fireworks Fund, P. O. Box 389, Greencastle, Ind. 46135. Any money that is

as a campaigner and his performance as president. Anyone who taught Jimmy Carter as a schoolboy that American “causes were always just” misled him deeply. There was very little justice in the Mexican war. in the Spanish-American war. or in the seizure of Vera Cruz. At a moment when the Indochinese peninsula is surrounded by seas of misery it is unappealing to suggest that our intervention in Vietnam, rather than our failure to consummate our mission there, was the unjust thing. 4. IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, a speech is only great when its rhetorical thrust subsumes analysis and logic, takes these and fires them with a spiritual thrust. Such was the strength of Lincoln’s second inaugural address. Mr. Carter's speech, so infelicitious in

July 20,1979, The Putnam County Banner Graphic

elude school books, clothing, fuel, food provisions and personal effects up to a total value of $500; books and tools of a trade up to a value of $250; workmen’s compensation, and court- ordered childsupport payments. The Revenue Service is not totally unsympathetic to financially pressed taxpayers. Sometimes it will allow them to pay their bills in installments, and sometimes it will compromise with taxpayers on the amount to be paid Finally, in hardship cases it may declare the bill temporarily uncollectible. These arrangements are mentioned in I.R.S. Publication No. 586 (The Collection Process) available at local I.R.S. offices. But these special considerations are not automatically available, and people must explore the possibility of qualifying for such special treatment on their own initiative.

received will be recorded and deposited in the fund for 1980 ” Mark Hopkins, who arranged and fired the impressive ground and aerial fireworks displays, will serve in that capacity again. His firing crew this year included Ben Cannon. Jack Flint, Rev. Roy Shuck, Tom Fitzpatrick, who also sang the national anthem, and members of the Greencastle Optimist Club. DURING FRIDAY’S committee session, Harmless also praised the efforts of the Greencastle Jaycees for their handling of the Fun Day events, which offered recreation for all ages. “Chuck Schroeder and his fellow Jaycees did a tremendous job organizing the softball and tennis tournaments and the many individual events,” Harmless said. “And Steve Michael deserves all the thanks in the world for organizing a spectacular afternoon of entertainment in the band shell. Without the work of these folks, and many others, the day couldn’t have been such a success.” Harmless expressed thanks, too. to the police officers, reserve police and Lions Club members who coordinated traffic control. CERTAINLY. COUNTLESS people deserve credit for the success of the July 4 celebration. But the most important accomplishment is the spirit and pride of an entire community that pulled together. There’s a lot of enthusiasm about next year. Let’s hope that a decade from now that enthusiasm is continuing to grow.

its language (he has concerned himself with “Issues of war and especially peace." ‘ whatever that means). so megalomaniacal in form (practically all the qutoation from his critics included the phrase "Mr. President." - like an English' schoolboy’s cloying use of "Sir" in addressing the headmaster, irritates in proportion as it practices the weaknesses it scores. THE MOST AWFI'L of President Nixon's speeches - April 30. 1973 - is most readily remembered by the paraphrase "Bob Halderman and John Ehrlichman are the two finest public servants in American history. ,tnd therefore I'm going to fire them." It didn't make sense, and neither did Mr. Carter, enjoining us to greatness while caviling at the least display of it

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