Bad RMV, Bad Tax Collection
When I moved from 143 Fearing Street, I filed the paperwork with the local Registry of Motor Vehicles to have my licence transferred to the state where I currently reside. This process was complicated by the fact that the Massachusetts RMV had incorrectly recorded that I had a dual licence in Massachusetts and in New Jersey where I had grown up. It took many phone calls with the Massachusetts RMV to understand that this problem had happened before they were computerized. I transferred my licence from New Jersey to Massachusetts in 1987, but then needed to deal with this hassle in 2009. If I had stayed in Massachusetts, I now wonder when this problem would have caught up with me and how. I wonder if my MA driver’s licence was ever valid during the entire twenty-two years that I was driving there. From experience, I think it is likely that this hidden problem with my records could have resulted in me being arrested again if I had continued to live in Massachusetts.
Six months after I sold the property, I received a tax bill for 143 Fearing Street that was delivered to my address in the city where I now live. This was another example of the incompetence of the Amherst Tax Collector. I called my attorney and he verified that the property transfer was complete but he told me that for some reason the Amherst tax office had not updated its information. I sent the bill back to Amherst “Return to Sender.” But what was clear is that the current owner did not receive his tax bill in a timely manner and probably had to pay late fees for no fault of his own. I was also clear that the incompetence that is so common in Amherst did not just act on me but also acts on other people.
It is my opinion that it should be against the law for the town of Amherst to be issuing tickets or tax bills at all. The town collector is just too irresponsible to send out notifications and record payments. This creates long term legal problems for law abiding citizens because failure to pay these fines and taxes can generate penalties and even lead to criminal actions for Amherst town residents. From repeated experience, Amherst does not get these bills out to the people who need to pay them. I remember only too well being arrested for fines and taxes that I was not notified about. I now wonder what address those bills were sent to, or if they were even sent at all. It is a terrible feeling to live in your home in Amherst, under the constant threat that the police will come to your door and arrest you for crimes you do not even know you commited.
Part of the reason why I left Amherst was that I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from living 143 Fearing Street. It took me years of living in a city hundreds of miles away to finally feel safe, and to feel secure that the Amherst Police were not going to come to my home to arrest me. Even six years later, every time I walk out my front door I feel comforted that I am not in Amherst and that I don’t need to worry about the Amherst police.
Even after I had moved away, the incompetence of the Massachusetts RMV and the Amherst tax collector, the two reasons that I was arrested in Amherst, were still hassling me. Who knows what other mistakes are still buried in their records that are waiting to cause me additional problems? I still live under the unease that there was something left incomplete when I moved away. I feel certain that if I ever returned to Amherst for any reason, I would be arrested for some bill that I never received and didn’t pay. It also occurs to me that I am only one person. Every person in Amherst is at risk because of the incompetence of these institutions.