County unable to answer inquiry

This is a run down of my brief phone conversations with Linn County government agencies that I thought would be able to answer my questions on how, when, where and why my property taxes are spent.

I first called the Linn County Assessor's office and asked for a detailed description of the spending of my property taxes. I was informed that their office could not give me that information, but they would transfer me to the Linn County Treasurer's office. The Linn County Treasurer's office informed me that they could not give me that information, but they would transfer me to the Linn County Auditor's Office. After going through the auditor's phone tree, I was received by the real estate section of the Linn County Auditor's Office. I was informed that they could not give me that information, but that I should contact the Linn County Treasurer's office. I informed that person that I had been transferred to their department from the treasurer's office.

I then asked, 'So, no one there really knows how to answer my questions?” The person answered my question with, yes, that's true.

This is little Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn. Just imagine the level of performance in the bureaucracies of the state and federal governments that your taxes are paying for.

John G. Hanson

Cedar Rapids