why does miss emily refuse to pay taxes?

 In 1894, the mayor, Colonel Sartoris, remitted her taxes after the death of her father. When the next generation came into office, the Board of Alderman had a meeting to decide how to collect taxes from Miss Emily, who was in the habit of not paying them. A "deputation" went to her house and waited in the dusty parlor until Miss Emily entered. She repeats that Colonel Sartoris has told her she has no taxes in Jefferson, though the Colonel had been dead for almost a decade.