A Wichita Falls man made news last week when he was arrested while trying to pay his property taxes.

Only there’s a little bit more to the story than that. The 27-year old Texan, Timothy Andrew Norris, arrived in person at the Wichita County Courthouse to pay his $600 property tax with individual dollar bills – only there was a twist. Or, er, a fold. Norris had allegedly folded each bill so tightly that it “required tax office personnel approximately six minutes to unfold each bill.”

If you’re doing the math, that means that it would take 3,600 minutes – or 60 hours, longer than a work week – to unfold the bills.

Tax Assessor Collector Tommy Smyth said that the spectacle brought work in the office to a halt so he asked Norris to leave. Norris refused and was eventually arrested and charged with criminal trespass. As you can imagine, Norris was none too happy about being arrested and attempted to break away from the arresting officer, earning him an additional charge of resisting arrest.

Norris might have been agitated because he was cutting it a bit close. According to the “official online window on state government service from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts,” most counties and/or municipalities usually mail their tax bills in October. The final deadline for payment is generally February 1, after which a payment is considered delinquent. Norris arrived at the courthouse before the delinquency date – on January 28 – to pay his taxes which means that he was still on time.

Texas makes it clear that cash is an acceptable form of payment for property taxes. At Section 31.06 of the Texas Code:

A collector shall accept United States currency or a check or money order in payment of taxes and shall accept payment by credit card or electronic funds transfer.

The same is true for the feds. There is no law that says you have to pay your taxes by check, credit card or by using the largest bills possible. By federal law, at Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, you can pay your taxes in coins and currency:

United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.

You may not want to try this at home. When you pay your taxes in cash, you’ll need proof of payment, which means you need a receipt. If you make it difficult for your payment to be counted, you might not get that receipt. The tax office isn’t staying open extra hours to count your money – nor do they have an obligation to do so. I’m guessing that you could make the argument that the tax office is required to count your cash every day until they have a total (and therefore a receipt) for you. In the case of Mr. Norris, assuming that they put a staffer on unfolding and counting his cash payment every day, it would take over a week to process, likely making Mr. Norris’ tax payment late.

Of course, we weren’t in the tax assessor’s office that day but I’m guessing Norris didn’t offer to come back the next day. Again, we don’t know what happened exactly. We just know it didn’t end well.

It’s not the first time a taxpayer has attempted to settle up with singles. In 2013, Robert Fernandes, of Forks Township, Pennsylvania, took his wife and children – and $7,143.54 in cash – to the tax collector and paid in single dollar bills. And, just to make sure that he made his point, he posted the whole thing on YouTube:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2015/02/03/texas-man-arrested-after-attempt-to-pay-taxes-with-dollar-bills/

When you go down to town hall and bust their b***s, they will find a way to return the favor. maybe not by arresting you ( like what happened to this guy.. which was wrong), but they will return the favor. Is that right for them to do?.. nope.. but they will.

But I agree.. try throwing pennies into the toll bin on the N.J. Turnpike and see what happens.. you will get a ticket in the mail ( and a photo of you and your car driving thru) for not paying the toll.. which you did pay.

Seem the state doesn't recognize pennies as legal tender... thought it is.

Legal Tender is Legal Tender!
Seems the Idiots-In-Charge everywhere have problems to grasp that Fact!

In the UK there are legal tender "guidelines" for small change, eg 2p for amounts not exceeding 20p.

In the US, while no guidelines exist "There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy."

Having said that though ... to actually arrest someone seems a tad extreme ...

Source: http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx

Hey, at least he didn't try to pay with worthless pennies.

He wasn't actually arrested for paying with small bills, the government office did take the money (like we knew they would, one way or another). He was arrested for criminal trespass when refusing to leave.


The question is, as the treasurer's office is actually a public place, can one be arrested for criminal trespass while in a public place during business hours?

If someone is making a scene or making threats, they can be arrested for criminal trespass and/or public disturbance. Businesses can eject patrons when closing time comes, as far as I know.
I don't think he was wrong to not leave until he had gotten his receipt... but he did that to himself by making the cash so difficult to be counted that it couldn't be humanly done before closing time.
Of course, the tax office made some mistakes, too. They should've just taken the money, unfolded and counted it 60 hours later, then charged him with late fees. Then they could've gotten even more money out of him, and probably not ended up in the news with them looking like a blame-worthy target.

he shouldn't have folded them... like the article says, he needs a receipt, so making them do stupid things just delays how long your there...