404 538 4536

2009 NJ Coordinators Meetingaka District Coordinators Meeting

Ken HoffmanNJ State Coordinator

973-731-5613e-mail: njtaxaide@comcast.net

NJ State Management Team (SMT)

• Gary Blauth – Administrative Specialist• Gary Broughton – Technology Specialist• Al Hershey – Partnership & Communication Specialist• Carol Horner – Ad Hoc Member• Ken Hoffman – State Coordinator• Denise Montana – Prospective Volunteer Coordinator• Carol Ober – Training Specialist• Denise Perry – IRS Territory Manager

• Name• Home town• County you work in• Tax Aide Position• How long have you volunteered with Tax Aide• Occupation (Current or pre-retirement)• What are your expectations of the AARP

TaxAide Program

Tell Us About Yourself

New Jersey Statistics• 57K taxpayers helped• Filed ~30K Federal returns• 900 volunteers• 187 Sites for TY2009 down from 235 in TY2008• e-file ratio = 77%– All districts >40% e-file– Eight districts >80% e-file

• 77% Quality Review reported

When Can/Cannot Prepare Tax Returns

Statement of Policy• We will prepare and quality review returns for taxpayers

– Of any age– Of any income– As long as the return is not too complex and falls within the

restrictions of the “New Jersey Can Do List”

• We shall not prepare returns– For items we have not been trained for– Items on the “NJ Cannot Do List”– Items that we do not feel comfortable with– Where a thorough Quality Review cannot be accomplished– Situations where we feel the truth is a stranger

Quality Review• Help facilitate paper preparers perform an

effective Quality Review • 25% to 50% of returns we prepare have errors

picked up during review• All documents prepared must be Quality

Reviewed– Federal & State Returns–PTRs & Tenant Rebates

Bernie Madoff??? Well not exactly

Why and How Does It Affect Us

• Returns on investments are down• Donations/Grants are down significantly

• AARP Foundation has a $750K budget gap

• We need to lower expenses• We have a significant equipment challenge

What Can We Do?• Mileage compensation is liberal

– For those who itemize• Consider taking a Flat rate• Consider voluntarily reducing

– The mileage rate reimbursement– The number of miles requested for reimbursement

• Identify areas of possible cost reduction• Possibly service remote sites less days per season

• Look for Sources or Grants for equipment and…• Open larger, more efficient sites and close smaller ones• Ask counselors to use personal computers• No $$ to replace 565 inoperable computers and 155 printers

(Category 1 equipment)

Mileage >$350 Requires SC For “I” Expenses (Counseling)

• Counseling expenses (“I”) over $350 require prior approval by DC & SC

• If there is good and sufficient reason for “I” expenses over that amount

1. Ask volunteers to accept the cap2. If that is unacceptable, “I” expenses expected to

exceed $350 must be pre-approved by the DC and SC, and both MUST approve the expense statement

Paper • A significant amount of our expense is for paper and toner

cartridges• For paper, use Staples NJTaxAide Tax Exempt, Rewards Card

#404 538 4536– It is tax exempt and the rewards are credited to an

account that will be used to buy additional supplies at no cost to Tax Aide (estimated at ($2,000 for NJ and $100,000 total)

– We are still planning to purchase paper and have it dropped shipped. If more is needed, please purchase it using this card number

The Equipment Challenge

Previous Equipment Sources

• AARP Foundation• Ocean County Grant• Company Donations• IRS• Site and corporate equipment loans• Partnerships

Equipment Requests33 Laptops, 9 Network Printers

• From districts >80% e-file:– 2 network printers

• From districts <80% e-file– 33 laptops– 7 network printers

Affected DistrictsDistrict Laptops (31) Printers [Network] (9)

Burlington 7

Camden 1

Middlesex 5 1

Monmouth 10 6

Morris 1

Ocean West 5 [over 2 years]

Passaic 4

The New Equipment Paradigm

• Limited AARP equipment for expansion• More reliance on state and districts• What can be done?– Increase equipment efficiency– Partnerships– Donations

• Partner with VITA Sites – Share equipment

The Good News

• Equipment costs have decreased• Partnership successes• Site consolidation successes• 1 Super Site for tax year 2009• Joint Tax Aide VITA sites are viable

PARTNERSHIPS AND GRANTS

Partnerships & Grants

• In NJ we have been successful in obtaining Grants– Freeholder Grants: This source has limitations– Grants from Corporations ie Exxon/Mobil, Becton

Dickenson (former employers of volunteers)– Partnered with United Way of North Essex

(UWNE)

And … United Way Did Their Share• Advertised for volunteers and clients• 10 desktop computers, a large auditorium, tables chairs and a

Client Facilitator • Set up, tore down and stored computers

• Made appointments and called clients the day before to confirm• Provided a Site Coordinator• Provided a class room with 10 desktops for pre-season training• Opened their building on Saturdays for class & for clients• 10 Reserved parking spaces for our volunteers• Use of a copier & telephone

AARP Provided

• Certified Counselors• ERO• Training• Prepared 450 Federal returns in 1st year and

was the busiest site in the District– Our efforts were hampered by the number of

volunteers available

• Flash drives (no taxpayer data on computers)

Then They Provided• $600 for an end of season party for all

volunteers in the District• CEO Comment: “I have never worked with

such a fantastic group of dedicated, professional individuals. We value our partnership with them and look forward to many years of collaborating”

• What a good deal for– Them, us and for our clients

Empowered By Success• We approached the United Way of Bergen County (#2)

– Purchased 10 computers to our specs and also donated $2,000 • The United Way of Gloucester County (#3) applied for a Boeing

grant and we are in the process helping them purchase laptops. In addition, the IRS is sharing 4 additional laptops from a VITA Site

• In Monmouth County, The United Way (#4) will take appointments for 2 of our largest sites where the library refused to do so

• In Hudson County, the United Way (#5) is providing funds to purchase 10 laptops, 2 printers and routers

• In Atlantic County, one of our volunteers knew someone who knew someone. Bottom line, AtlantiCare Health Systems is providing use of 10 laptops, 2 printers, routers, facilities, training facilities and volunteers as well as IT support from their staff. We will be consolidating sites in this County due to the throughput expected from AtlantiCare

Ask Libraries• At several of our library sites, computers are

available for the asking. Some are laptops others are desktops. On most site owned equipment, we use flash drives or we could use TWO – Montclair Pubic Library – 4 laptops– East orange Public Library – 3 desktops– Maplewood Library – 6 laptops

Ask Other Partners

• Most of these partners have been jointly pursued with our IRS SPEC Office

• In NJ, they hooked us up with PNC bank which is a source of grants and other assistance and facilitated R partnership with Hudson Cty UW

• Thru our SPEC office, arrangements have been made for partners to take appointments at several of our locations in four counties where library budgets have been cut

Bottom Line

• We have over 50 laptops from United Way and AtlantiCare Partners

• We have requests for an additional 31 laptops and 9 network printers

• Outlook from AARP: 10 laptops maximum

Think Outside The BoxTax Aide and VITA

• We serve different segments of the population• Our hours of service are usually different• VITA is income limited, we are not• VITA’s training is often limited to Basic• BUT, we can effectively share sites and

equipment and thereby serve more clients– We are not in competition– Combining our resources will assist more taxpayers

QUESTIONS?

COMMENTS?