Remember picking up your third parking ticket of the week? Or dropping all of your quarters, dimes, and nickels into a downtown street meter, only to realize you’ve paid for just 45 minutes? 

Well, next time you think about Washington D.C.’s revenue problem, I hope this Examiner story comes to mind: “Tax Office Error Cost Taxpayers $25 Million in Fine Revenue.”

Commercial property owners must file income and expense documents annually to help the tax office determine property values. Those that failed to submit these papers in the past should have been penalized with a fine “equal to 10 percent of their property’s assessed value.” But, alas they weren’t, and here’s why according to the Examiner’s story:

The property tax administration, until recently, had no system in place for identifying commercial property owners who did not file, filed late, or filed inaccurate information, the D.C. inspector general found in a recent audit. There was no system for penalizing owners.

Always good to hear.