[LEAPSECS] Pragmatic solution (sometimes)

[Gerard Ashton]

I was talking to the IT manager for a town in Connecticut, USA. I asked 
if town residents could pay taxes and fees online. He said they could. I 
asked how they knew if a deadline had been met and whether late 
penalties should be added. He said that the town officials were lenient, 
and if the payment were close to the deadline, the late penalties would 
not be imposed. This avoids the need for split-second accuracy. He 
couldn't say what degree of accuracy could be achieved if called for, 
since an external company processes the credit card transactions.

Of course, if it happens that the last person to receive leniency is a 
good friend of the mayor, and the first person to have the late penalty 
imposed is an opponent of the mayor...

Gerry Ashton