Wrong tax bill -- called county office

[Jim K.]

Just a note: I received a much-reduced Allegheny County tax bill for our latest acquisition, which included the former owner's homestead exemption and a senior tax relief discount. I was more or less expecting this, as I closed on the property in December and the deed was recorded in the very last days of 2018.

I called the AC property tax office on Saturday, left a message on their machine, clearly stated I planned to call them back on Monday.

At 9:00 am today, the office called me up, figured out what was wrong, got me connected to the right guy in the department to correct the issue and send out the correct tax bill, apologized for the mistake.

My legal first name is extremely ethnic and I have never gone by it here in the USA. My high school diploma and college degree both state that they were granted to "Jim." My legal last name is similarly very ethnic. I have no middle name, according to the traditions of my particular branch of Christianity. But post-Patriot Act, I have to go by the name printed on my Consulate Report of Birth Abroad certificate, which was taken from my Greek Orthodox baptismal certificate in 1976 and transliterated as the full, most formal, religious form of my name.

I used to live and invest in Greece.

Just try to get something like this done over the phone with an Arab name in Greece, something good and ethnic like "Imran ibn Tarik al-Shamoon." Just try once.

Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh have problems but not insurmountable ones.