Monday, July 25, 2011

Oh State That Will Not Let Me Go

When I moved from MN to PA, the state of MN was entirely convinced that I had actually moved away. I got a PA driver's license, transferred the title to Hermes, registered to vote, got a local library card, started paying PA taxes on my PA paycheck, and I didn't have to do anything else to prove myself or reassure MN that I had, in fact, left.

The same cannot be said of my move from PA back to MN.

I did all the same things in the process of moving: got a MN driver's license, transferred the title to Hermes once again, registered to vote, got a local library card, started paying MN taxes on my MN paycheck. And in March, Union County, PA, mailed me the bill for the occupation tax (yes, this is a tax you pay just for breathing air and occupying space within the county - it costs $5 for the year, $4.90 if you pay the tax within the first month of receiving the bill). Note they didn't just forward the bill, it came back to them and they had to ADDRESS A NEW ENVELOPE TO MINNESOTA to send me a bill for occupying space in Pennsylvania (which I had not done since August). Having to mail this sucker to another state was not enough to convince them I had really moved - I had to send back a copy of my new driver's license and swear on my honor that I had really, truly moved out of the state (I am honestly surprised they didn't require a notary to verify the signature, or a blood test to certify it was me and not my evil twin who had moved).

I thought that was the end of it.

Then today in the mail I received another letter from Union County, this time from the board of elections, to the effect of "We see you have a Minnesota address. We're not sure if that's in Union County or not - can you please verify whether you still live here."

?!?!?!?!?!?!?! WTF ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Oh Pennsylvania, we had a great run, don't go making it all awkward now with these tax and voter registration shenanigans. I know it's hard, I miss you a lot too, but seriously, it's time to let me go.

No comments: