The setting is a municipal office in a small and mainly rural township in Eastern Ontario. An old gentleman came in to pay his taxes at the counter. He laboured somewhat, leaning on his cane. Suddenly, he spotted the clerk-treasurer in a back area of the open office. He yelled out his name. The clerk-treasurer came over to the counter, whereupon the old gentleman began to regale him with a litany of complaints – of taxes too high, roads not well maintained, a messy Township garbage dump, wild dogs that bothered his cattle – you name it, he had a complaint about it.
It became evident, however, that a time-honoured tradition was unfolding. The old gentleman’s comments were not nasty, personal, or mean-spirited and the clerk-treasurer seemed to be trying to suppress a smile while nodding with sympathy. Then the reeve of the township happened to wander into the office. Double bonus. The old gentleman perked up even more. He repeated this list of aggravations and added a few more, with the reeve also accepting these with equanimity. Satisfied, the old gentleman paid his taxes and turned to leave. He marched out of the office looking much livelier than when he entered – and I seem to recall that he was swinging his cane in rather a jaunty fashion.
Taxes as Therapy?
I remember thinking, half seriously, that municipalities were missing a great opportunity by not capitalizing on the payment of taxes as a therapeutic exercise. “Feeling tired, stressed, out of sorts?” If you pay your taxes in advance, you will have three minutes to unburden yourself with the clerk-treasurer (and a councillor if one is present in the building during your visit).”
I appreciate that not all personal exchanges are as civil as the one that I witnessed. Nor would most senior staff or councillors feel that they had the time to fit periodic and unscheduled “chats” with citizens (disgruntled or otherwise) into their current workloads. Yet I can’t help thinking that something is being lost as government-citizen interaction moves increasingly into the cyberworld. More efficient – by far. More convenient – certainly. Less personal – unavoidable it would seem. My lament is largely nostalgic but it may strike a chord or give a chuckle to those who worked in municipal offices, especially small ones, some decades ago.