BARBERTON: Daniel Clark got a big surprise last week when he opened the front door of his Barberton home to find two Summit County sheriff's deputies there to arrest him and his wife.

''One of the deputies asked, 'Don't you guys check your mail?' But I still didn't have a clue why they wanted to arrest us,'' Clark said. ''Then they told me we didn't pay our city income taxes and there was a warrant out for our arrest.''

Clark called his wife, Kimberly, who handles the bills. She's a nurse and was at work.

She told him they were late on the tax payment, but it was only $10.12 and she just hadn't gotten around to mailing it in.

''Actually, I didn't believe my wife,'' said Clark, 37, systems administrator. ''I couldn't believe they would come after us for that small amount of money. I thought maybe we owed hundreds of dollars.''

The Clarks learned the hard way that Barberton has been stepping up its tax-collection process.

Finance Director Ray Flickinger Jr. said while civil cases were pursued in the past, this year Barberton filed criminal charges against delinquent taxpayers.

''Most people pay their income taxes,'' Flickinger said, ''so it's not fair to them that others choose to ignore them. It's unfortunate that we have to go to these lengths to collect taxes.''

Criminal charges, he said, are a last resort.

Barberton is one of 45 Northeast Ohio communities using CCA (Cleveland Collection Agency) to collect its taxes. The agency suggested filing criminal charges because, under Ohio law, if the taxes are unpaid, liens can be attached to a driver's or other license, meaning it can't be renewed until the payment is made.

 CCA reviewed Barberton's delinquent cases dating back to 2000 and sent out 479 letters in December 2007 warning taxpayers to pay up. Out of that number, 32 were small businesses and the rest were individuals.

Flickinger said 196 didn't respond and were summoned to court. Seventy-six of those delinquent taxpayers failed to appear in court and bench warrants were issued for them.

Kimberly Clark admits she ignored several notices from the post office.

''I didn't think it was anything,'' she said. ''We weren't expecting any special mail. I always thought certified mail was a legal matter and we've never had any legal issues before.''

The certified mail was from Barberton Municipal Court informing the Clarks of a July 10 court date on their unpaid taxes. When they didn't appear and the court didn't hear from them, a bench warrant was issued July 23.

The deputies didn't take the Clarks into custody because they agreed to go to court that afternoon.

Barberton Municipal Judge Greg Macko dropped the charges after the Clarks went to the finance department and paid the overdue $10.12.

 They weren't fined, but they were hit with court costs. Now they owe the city $426 — $213 each.

The Clarks are on a monthly payment plan to pay off the court costs.

''We both work, but we have two children and we live paycheck to paycheck,'' Kimberly Clark said. ''It's unfair. My husband and I had to take off work to go to court, and we cooperated with the courthouse. I want the judge to reconsider, but I can't get past the bailiff when I call the judge. And when I called the mayor, he said the courthouse and the mayor's office are two separate entities and he couldn't do anything to help.''

Kimberly Clark said she has learned a costly lesson and will pick up any certified mail she receives in the future. But she is still bitter about the incident.

She said her children (ages 11 and 13) saw the officers come to pick up mom and dad and the neighbors have been calling to find out what happened.

''I just wonder how much it cost taxpayers to send a cruiser to our home,'' she said. ''It's a sad way to collect city income taxes.''