Nothing Puts Off Procrastinators

For some, procrastination in filing tax returns is a tradition.

Despite traffic jams at post offices and the last-minute stress of rushing around, then enduring jabs by those who filed early, their practice of waiting until the final day continues.

Monday was crunch time for the 10 Orange County post offices that extended their hours and adjusted their services to accommodate the thousands of people who waited until the last day to file their federal and state income tax returns.

“I always wait until the last minute to do this,” said Santa Ana resident Susan Joyce. “It’s terrible, [but] there are always more pleasant things to do than your taxes.”

Countywide, the IRS estimated that 500,000 people waited until the final days to file their tax returns.

At the Santa Ana Processing Center on Sunflower Avenue, officials who were expecting thousands of tax envelopes to come through their post office on Monday were determined to make things go as smoothly as possible.

Their efforts included setting up a front-entrance table with two employees to weigh and stamp the envelopes. A drive-through and drop-off site, open until midnight and complete with police officers directing traffic, was set up for the first time on Susan Street, which intersects Sunflower at the post office site.

Pointing to Susan Street, Costa Mesa Police Officer Garth Wilson, who was to direct traffic until late Monday night, focused on keeping the vehicles flowing.

“This street is going to be a jungle of orange cones,” said Wilson early during the rush. “It doesn’t surprise me to see this many procrastinators when you consider how many people you run into who procrastinate in every aspect of their life. I just wish they wouldn’t, it would make things a lot easier for me.”

In Newport Beach, Jim Andritch of the post office there said Monday was “very hectic.”

Andritch said at 6:30 p.m. that “the car line is probably about a block and a half for the people dropping off their forms. It’s real busy out here. You see the same faces every April 15.”

Although tax forms were sent out months ago, taxpayers at the Santa Ana post office had no apologies for their delay. Rather, they seemed to relish their rush to stuff envelopes, weigh postage and lick stamps before their mail was sent off to its destinations.

“I am a procrastinator,” said David Ruiz, a Costa Mesa retiree. “There is no other reason, I always just wait for deadline time.” Sandra Platt of Tustin broke with her tradition by a few hours this year.

Usually, Platt explained as she licked the stamp for the envelope addressed to the Franchise Tax Board, she waits until 11 p.m. April 15 to arrive at a post office. This year, she said proudly, she arrived at 2 p.m.

“I am early this year,” said Platt, who finished her tax forms two weeks ago but waited until Monday to mail them. “I usually go to the Tustin post office at 11 p.m. I see the same people there every year. But today, I decided not to [wait] because I am not feeling too well.”

Although Santa Ana post office employees made an effort to make the day run as smoothly as they could and extended their office hours until 8 p.m., the parking lot was overflowing with cars and the traffic began backing up on Sunflower Avenue by 3 p.m.

One young woman who walked to the post office to deliver her mother’s tax returns could not comprehend the madness of waiting until the last minute.

“I think this is ridiculous,” said Michelle Gaylor of Orange. “I think this adds stress. I mean look at this--it’s a traffic nightmare.”