Michigan Town Rejects $270 Tax Assessment Paid In Pennies

JACKSON, MI – At a penny a thought, a Michigan man has about 27,000 of them about a special assessment placed on his property for cleanup by a city he claims wants to create an illusion of beautiful perfection. Officials in the suburb of Jackson cleared Brian McGonegal’s yard of trash, and now they’re charging him — but they’re not accepting the property owner’s preferred method of payment in pennies.

McGonegal admits he’s miffed about the whole deal. That’s why he’s bagging the pennies to make his monthly $27 installments to clear the $270 special assessment.

Coins aren’t the problem, Jackson Treasurer Andrew Wrozek told WWJ Radio. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

“We accept coins,” Wrozek told WWJ Radio. “We told him we would. They are probably dirty — just need to be wrapped and put his name, address and phone on each roll.”

Wrozek said he has the backing of the city attorney, who has said the city doesn’t have to accept the pennies as payment. McGonegal comes in around closing time with his installments, the treasurer said, “and I would have to let him wrap them up.”

Photo by foreverseptember via Flickr Commons