The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Subtract Line 180 From Line 13, Add Coffee: The clock is ticking for George Uchishiba as he feverishly labors to finish his taxes on the evening of April 15 at Able Printing.

Honk to end taxes--or just join the annual April 15 Glen party

Usual last-minute tax filers gather at post office and print shop

By Rebecca Wallace

Her head hanging halfway out her car window in the bumper-to-bumper traffic on Meridian Avenue, the woman yelled desperately at a pedestrian, "Ma'am? Oh, ma'am! Can you tell me where the post office is?"

If you can't find the Willow Glen post office on the night of April 15, you might as well just go home. Last Wednesday, like every other tax night, trucks and sport utility vehicles and bass-booming Buicks were stacked up along Meridian, heading for the Glen post office, one of two in San Jose that stay open until midnight for late filers trying to squeak in under the gun.

Any harried bearer of W-2s could simply follow his ears to the building and courtyard at 1750 Meridian, where a radio station blared, "Live from the Willow Glen post office, it's Wild 94.9!" a man waved a "HONK TO END TAXES" sign and kids brandished balloons, needing only cones of cotton candy to complete the carnival atmosphere.

A man at a table advertising the Libertarian Party ("Free the People--Repeal State Income Tax") looked a little glum at about 8:30 p.m. as he waved a petition around.

Getting a lot of support tonight? "You'd think so," he said mildly, "but we've only had one signature so far."

Two guys standing near the front door, waiting for their buddies to emerge from the post office, seemed amused by the whole scene. "I always get mine in on time," a man, who gave his name only as Joe, said of his taxes. "I knew I'd get a refund, and wanted it back fast."

Inside, there were no proverbial disgruntled postal workers around. The ones here seemed strangely cheery, despite the chaos. Two tables of IRS volunteers offered federal and state tax advice. "You folks need help? Stamps? Right here," said Jon Kacer, a post office customer-service support supervisor, waving his hands around.

It seemed a little quieter at the Willow Glen post office than in years past, he said. Perhaps people had filed their taxes earlier--or perhaps they all headed to the other San Jose post office open late, the one at 1750 Lundy Ave. This type of radio-station zoo has been going on at the Willow Glen office for at least 10 years, Kacer said.

At Able Printing at 1562 Hamilton Ave., the usual April 15 party was rolling along, with lots of people taking advantage of the free copies, coffee and cookies.

Twenty volunteers from the IRS's VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistants) program "were busy the entire time," said Karen Naegeli, a manager of the family-owned business. They were rewarded with champagne and cold cuts. "There were as many people as in years past [filing tax returns]," Naegeli said, "and people are bringing in more complicated tax returns now."

Attendees who felt generous could make donations to a charity selected by the Naegelis. Like last year, the Humane Society was the chosen recipient.

At the post office, Leonard Sweeney of San Jose peered perplexedly into a blue wooden box of tax forms and fingered a few pieces of paper. "I always wait until the last minute. I hate doing bookkeeping, and it was more complicated this year," he said.

But most of the people rushing through the post office, dropping capital gains forms, envelopes and 1099s, weren't in the mood to talk. They were on deadline-- something this reporter can relate to.

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