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Government Change

Like many college students, Ted Nischan, 25, doesn’t have a lot of cash. So when he received a $160 parking ticket in Fort Collins, Colo., he gathered what he had: the contents of his change bucket, which he took to the municipal court. They refused to accept it. “It’s not prudent use of taxpayer funds to have one of the clerks sit there counting quarters, nickels and pennies,” said municipal court supervisor Fran Seaworth. Just ignore the automated coin-counting machine 20 feet away. “We actually have a coin counter on premises, in our offices,” said Randy Hensley, the city’s parking services manager. “We’re across the lobby.” However, the municipal court and parking services are separate departments, with separate accounting systems. Seaworth said she was previously unaware of the machine, but that Nischan wouldn’t be able to use it to pay anyway. The setup would work only if the parking services staff would count the coins and then give him bills to carry back to the court. “We do work for the same government,” Seaworth explained. “We’re totally separate.” (MS/Fort Collins Coloradoan) ...The most succinct summary of government bureaucracy ever.