Post Office Sees Its Share of Activity on Tax Day

With all the on-line tax preparation programs that allow you to file your taxes from the comforts of your own home, you’d figure there would be precious few people rushing to the at the last minute to file their taxes just before Tuesday’s deadline.

Some things never change, apparently.

On Tuesday, the Avon Post Office closed at its usual 5:30 p.m. time and didn’t have extended hours to accommodate supremely late arrivers. As you might imagine, the office’s modest-sized parking lot got its share of attention at sundown.

So what kept them so long, despite having an extra day or two to file taxes this year?

Ah, well, you know … um, procrastination.

Debi Morales, who once lived in Avon but resides in LaGrange, has a refund coming that she could’ve collected earlier.

Morales, 32, changed jobs in August from teaching medical assisting at Sanford Brown College to managing the dermatology office at in Avon. With an extra W-2 form to track down, Morales said she got a little delayed in filing at first … but then she quickly fessed up.

“I’m a procrastinator by nature,” Morales said, “but with personal stuff … with business stuff, I mean. … I say I’m going to do it early every year, and I always end up at the post office.”

Lee Mahar, 32, of Avon, who said he hates taxes, had been bouncing between accountants and simply lost track of the time over the past few months.

“I guess I forgot that (the tax returns) were all ready. And then they said, ‘are you picking them up today?’ Then I said, ‘Oh my God, they’re due,’ ” Mahar said.

In the case of Leonard Erskine, it was a case of not wanting to kick up the cash until he absolutely had to do it. Erskine, 48, waited until the very last minute, but he made it to the post office on time.

“I had to pay a lot,” Erskine, of Avon, said. “I’m not happy about it. It’s the law, and I want to be compliant.”