By Kristen Griffith, Photo: Michael Theis/The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, February 23, 2022
Elizabeth Vermillera, a retired pharmaceutical technician, spends her days handing out donated clothes and food to people in Baltimore. Since 1997, she has lived in the three-level rowhouse on East Monument Street that her dad gave her, a home she shares with a Shih Tzu and a fox terrier. Occasionally, neighbors trying to get back on their feet after hard times will stay there, too.
In 2021, the city notified Vermillera that she might lose her home due to unpaid property taxes.She panicked. Vermillera, who is disabled and unable to work, lives on a limited income.
She says she paid $300 of the $600 in taxes she owed for 2019. Then in 2020, she paid the city another $300, intending for that to cover the 2019 balance. However, her 2020 taxes also were due so the city applied part of the last $300 payment to her 2020 tax bill. The notice said the remainder of the unpaid 2019 taxes was overdue and Vermillera also owed interest and other fees.
Comments (0)