CA Stiffs Counties for $22 Million in Taxes

Nice if the rest of us could ignore the bill, too

If you decide not to pay your taxes, you could face stiff penalties, seizure of your property and jail time. But when California's government is the tax deadbeat, state officials thumb their noses at the tax man.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife owes more than $22 million to 36 counties, having failed to make its annual payments for more than 10 years for use of county property. Year after year county officials bill and plead for payment, and year after year they get snubbed.

"If the state was a private taxpayer, several pieces of state property would have been seized and sold a long time ago for failure to pay property taxes," said the California Taxpayers Association in its April 5 newsletter.