Taxes (not what you think!)

[PTjvs]

So, yesterday my wife & I come home to a rather official looking document from the city where we live (small city in Ohio). It's from the city tax office & states that unless we immediately bring them our tax information for the duration of the time we've lived there (5 years or so), we'll be subject to jail time/fees, etc. So my wife takes in all the required documents & today we get a call stating that, on a short term temp job through Manpower 4 years ago, Manpower didn't deduct any local taxes from my wages & that, with fees & late penalties, I now owe the city tax office $575 or something.

Obviously I'm not used to thinking in terms of local taxes, and assuming this is true (I'll check my W-2 when I get home tonight), I'm sure I just assumed that all local taxes were handled appropriately through payroll of the places I've worked. At this point, most of what I "owe" is late fees, should/am I truly obligated to pay these, or do I have some recourse?

jvs