EXCHANGE: Woman good at math finds community in doing taxes

OLIVE BRANCH, Ill. (AP) - This is the 35th year Charlotte Dover has done other people’s taxes.

From the pink mobile home parked on the southern edge of Olive Branch, 77-year-old-Dover and her daughter, Susan Bigham, greet customers they have had for decades. Dover’s characteristic spunk is punctuated by her big smile and her signature hats.

“I get a lots of remarks on my caps,” Dover said, joking that a lot of them come from men.

She started her business in 1982 from home after most of her five children had left the house. She had gone to some college classes focusing on accounting and had had enough of working for other people. She had a few jobs with local attorneys and decided that if she was going to work that hard, she may as well do it herself.

“That’s a foolish thing to say because when you work for yourself you take it home,” Dover said. “You even think about it at night.”

She had always had a head for figures and enjoyed the puzzle of doing taxes and decided to give it shot. It didn’t take long to catch on.

“Within the year, my husband said, ’You are going to have to get out of here. You’ve got papers everywhere,’” Dover remembered with her characteristic big smile. She said work spilled out of her office at the end of the house.

“I had stuff all over the dining room table,” Dover said. She soon would have 300 tax clients every year.

In 1983 Dover moved to the lot she has now. It’s been a good location for business, Dover and Bigham said. They get customers from all over, even out of state. In fact, their office gets standing-room-only at times, Bigham pointed out. No small task for an office that is decidedly out of the way.

However, while it’s good for business, the location has been good for something else, too - flooding. She has had to pack up her files several times over the years because of the risk of high waters, but she said she has good help.

“My family always helped me,” Dover said. In fact, in one of the last flood fights, in 2011, she took on considerable damage and was offered a Federal Emergency Management Agency buyout. She declined. She asked, where else could she find such an ideal location?

Dover said she doesn’t really need the income tax work anymore. As a bonded Secretary of State office, Dover said they get plenty of work. In fact, this is what keeps them busy most of the year.

“I have to work nights to get my income tax work done,” she said.

In the last year, Dover has decided to slow down. She has divested herself of all her “complicated” tax clients.

“I’m still taking all the clients that care to return that have more simple taxes,” Dover said, adding that she now has almost exactly 100 tax clients.

While she does plan to retire, she never put a year on it. After more than three decades, she is starting to take advantage of the perks of having her own business.

“If I get tired, I go home,” she said with a grin. With this, Dover has taken steps this past year to enjoy more quality time with her family.

To hear her talk, though, her clients are like family. She said she has files that go back almost all the way to the start of her business. This is not for lack efficient bookkeeping, but more as an asset to her clients. She thinks about them often, even after hours, and said she likes being able to help them should they lose files.

Her daughter chimed in, saying if there was a house fire, they take pride in being able to help people rebuild their lives, at least a little bit. Bigham said she sees Charlotte’s Title and Tax Service as a community asset.

Her mother agreed.

“You live their lives, too,” Dover said of her clients.

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Source: The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan, https://bit.ly/2ny8gap

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Information from: Southern Illinoisan, https://www.southernillinoisan.com