Why inconvenience taxpayers further?

A Tuesday-morning call to the Banner Graphic newsroom seemed routine enough.

“Why is the courthouse closed today?” a perturbed voice on the other end asked.

The answer was simple: Tuesday was Election Day.

The election was easy to forget with only Cloverdale Republican races on the docket for this primary.

Election Day, and the corresponding government office closures, are a fact of life, even in the years there are no elections.

However, the citizen’s next question got us thinking a little bit more.

“Why is the courthouse closed when I need to pay my taxes?” he asked.

Now that is a horse of a different color.

Property taxes are due this Friday, May 10 — no exceptions unless you want to pay a late fee.

Come fall, they’ll be due Tuesday, Nov. 12 — delayed two days by weekend and Veterans Day. That’s just one week after the courthouse is closed for the fall municipal election.

So why does the State of Indiana set its property tax cycle so closely in sync with the election cycle?

In Indiana, the primary election is always the Tuesday following the first Monday in May. Nationally, the general election is the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

This means that with taxes due on May 10 and Nov. 10 (or shortly thereafter) there is always a day that the county treasurer’s office is closed in the week or so leading up to the due date.

The inconvenience of paying taxes is bad enough. There’s no reason to make the process more taxing.

The question for the state is if these dates are necessary.

Put it another way: Would state government cease to function if taxes were due May 20 and Nov. 20? What about May 1 and Nov. 1?

It seems the state would find a way to keep providing service.

Certainly a date change would require an adjustment that county and state employees wouldn’t love, but who are the laws here to serve, government officials or citizens?

We hope it’s the citizens.

An argument can be made that in this day and age, the closure is of little consequence to taxpayers. They can pay by phone, by internet or even at a number of local banks in Putnam County.

The fact remains that some folks want to march into the treasurer’s office to deal with a human face to face and make sure the payment gets there.

That’s their right.

They may also want to look that fellow human in the eye and say exactly what they think about having to pay property tax.

And that’s OK too.

Why not make that process as convenient as possible for the citizens of Indiana?