Story Archive

Their Name Says “Service”

The Internal Revenue Service office in Maitland, Fla., definitely has a problem keeping up with the volume of people needing its assistance. “I came, there was a line around the corner,” Natasha Zephyr said. “The lady ... told everyone they need to leave because they have to camp out between midnight and 6:00 a.m. in order to get a visitor’s pass to get in the building and get help.” The wait is so bad that one person had to come in at 5:00 a.m. Monday in order to be seen on Tuesday. The problem isn’t just at the office either. The IRS phone lines are so jammed that callers have about a 50/50 chance of getting through. The others receive a message after waiting on hold: “We’re sorry but due to extremely high call volume in the topic you requested, we are unable to handle your call at this time. Please try again later or on our next business day.” Michael Dobzinski, a Florida spokesman for the IRS, says the problem stems from budget cuts and workforce reduction; over $1 billion and 15,000 people nationwide over the last five years. (MS/News 13 Orlando) ...Why do we keep paying more and more for less and less?