Travis County Commissioners Court
November 18, 2008
Item 29
29. Consider and take appropriate action on request for assistance from foundation communities for the operation of tax preparation assistance program during the 2009 tax season to provide free income tax filing assistance to eligible residents, including: a. License agreement for the provision of space at the Travis County south rural community center in del valle for the program; b. In-kind support in the form of printing brochures, fliers, forms and other promotional materials; and c. In-kind support in the form of deaf interpreters services. We have been doing a, b and c historically.
>> yes, we have. The change this year -- last year we requested permission for the use of the oak hill facility. And I think that in evaluating the need, in this program, they have determined that there's a -- there's a much higher need in the del valle area for these services and -- and a higher population of folks who are potentially eligible for the earned income tax credit. So -- so they have decided to request the del valle center this year over the oak hill center.
>> remind me of the monetary value of the assistance we gave last year and the year before, if you recall. It was really a dramatic figure.
>> the monetary value of the earned income tax credit or what we have given --
>> no. The earned income tax credit.
>> okay. The earned income tax credit for our residents for last year, forgive me just a second. In 2008 the community tax centers prepared over 800 tax returns for del valle residents alone yielding about $1.3 million in refunds. 37% of those or $506,000 of which was due to the earned income tax credit. So that's for just residents within the del valle area. They also --
>> we aren't the only ones doing this. There are a lot of other non-profits in various other locations.
>> absolutely. Foundation communities receives assistance from the city of Austin. There are numerous locations that we will assist by providing that information not only through our community centers but on our website so that folks know where to go to get free tax preparation. This tax preparation also attempts to discourage folks from using predatory tax preparation services that charge very high interest rates for early or rapid refund. So it is not only an opportunity to access the earned income tax credit, but also to preserve more of that refund for the families for their use. So -- so we have worked with, with the -- with foundation communities on this project for many years. It has -- we have done their printing in the past. We have also provided the deaf interpreters. The dollar value of the interpreter costs are about 7 to $8,000, depending on the amount of time that the interpreters are used. The amount of the printing, I'm not sure if we have that.
>> about 2900.
>> about 29 -- yeah, 2900 to -- to I would say a little more than that. Depending on the quantity of -- and whether or not we have to have a second run during the tax season. So --
>> sherri, let's make sure that we have the information to the people in the oak hill clinic location, our facilities out there. When people come in and see they are not going to be doing it out there. They can either be directed as to where to go to get it -- if there's anybody that's locally doing it where we wouldn't be -- because we're going to find ourselves a little bit in the same situation doing this out there as we did the northwest clinic. You know, it's -- you know, those -- the west side, I mean, we all know doesn't have the numbers, the sheer numbers, you know, that we have in some other areas of town. But I mean the people that need it, need it.
>> yes.
>> and --
>> there is a south first street location at the foundation communities office, but we will make sure that the information is available at all of our community centers so folks know where to receive that information. We will also put it on our website and get it on channel 17 and so forth.
>> list of the locations providing assistance?
>> yes, sir.
>> okay.
>> judge, I move approval of 29 a, b and c.
>> second.
>> any more discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 1:38 PM