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As I drove to Rotary today, I was reminded of something my dad told me often. “What a blessing it is to earn enough money to have to pay these taxes.” As we heard about VITA today, I want to acknowledge the privilege of most of us in this room who have the resources to pay for tax assistance and preparation. My dad also taught me about this neat thing where if you donate money to nonprofits, you owe LESS taxes. How cool is that!? If you are trying to offload some cash by the end of the year, look no further than our own club’s foundation! Rebecca led us in the Four Way Test to begin our meeting. Joe Garcia’s reflection today was about the volunteers who help assist people with essential services. As we hear about volunteer tax assistance programs, Joe reminded us to be thankful to those who choose to serve. The patriotic song for the day was America the Beautiful. Sue Mills brother passed away last week and the ceremony was last Monday. Today’s music was Arlene McDaniel on piano and Ed Fedewa on bass. They were introduced by Courtney Milbrook who encouraged us all to see Rhapsody in Blue tonight at the Wharton Center. The show is a mix of classical, blues and jazz music. Don’t worry, I already have my tickets! Courtney noted that Ed’s biggest struggle is his newest student, Dr. Steve Robinson. This is hard for me to believe. Steve has always seemed very teachable to me. Their first song was A Foggy Day by George Gershwin. The second song they performed was from the movie Carousel. Announcements – there is an opportunity to replace our Treasurer. DO NOT ALL JUMP AT ONCE. The International Grants submissions are open. The deadline is in 14 days on November 15th. This week we fall back on Saturday night. The question for the October birthdays - if one more person could be on Mount Rushmore who would it be? Kurt Guter said FDR. Michele Lantz said herself. Cause – why not? Jerry Granger said Cathy Andrews. To a massive agreeable sigh from the crowd. We love you, Cathy! I was quite surprised to hear that Raenne Mardigan chose Chris Holman. It’s pretty clear she is new to knowing him cause I heard some word salad that only occasionally matches Chris’ character. In all seriousness though, she appreciates his impact behind the scenes which causes a massive ripple effect. I must say I don’t disagree with this statement. I forgot to donate for my birthday! I did go and donate while this meeting occurred. Confirmation ID is 3WY89296YM998462X so you really can’t say I’m lying. I would put Harriett Tubman on Mount Rushmore. Think about this next time you are complaining – she had no formal education, could not read, could not write, was disabled, had no money and she STILL got way more shit done than any of you. So next time you think you don’t have enough resources, be more resourceful. Teresa Kmetz introduced fierce community advocate and her dear friend Michele Strasz. Michele is the Director of Community Impact and Policy at United Way South Central Michigan Capital Area.  The VITA program ensures that low to moderate income households receive the maximum refund possible so that they can meet their own financial needs and save for the future. This is funded through the IRS who sends certified volunteers who provide FREE-TO-THE-CLIENT basic income tax return preparation. Who benefits? Most households make less than $67,000/year who are under the ALICE threshold (asset-limited, income-constrained, employed). 35% of our community fits in this category. The VITA program focuses on serving the disabled, urban and rural communities older adults, are part of families and those who speak English as a Second Language. They also help clients receive invaluable tax credits, including: The Earned Income Tax Credit, The Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit and the Michigan Home Heating credit. In addition, VITA provides referrals to financial education and stability programs in the community. They also help provide information to college-going families who need to complete their FAFSA. In the 2024 tax season, they served over five thousand households in our region. They estimate they saved an average of $306 in tax preparation fees. That is almost $1.6 million in costly tax preparation fees! In the 2023-2024 tax season they recovered more than $3.9 million in federal refunds and over $3.5 million in Michigan refunds! How does it work? • Traditional in person • Hybrid option – Scan and Go • Totally virtual • Facilitated Self Assistance (FSA) • Mobile Unit The mobile unit is new this year. They are partnering with nonprofits, schools, community organizations and businesses with high ALICE participants to set up their new Mobile Unit to assist with FREE tax preparation. Interesting in having them stop by or sponsoring an event? Contact is m.wasylecki@uwscmi.org! They need our help! They lost several volunteers during COVID. VITA is working on rebuilding their volunteer corps. In 2024, they reached less than 5% of the eligible population. The IRS estimates billions of dollars worth of credits are left unclaimed every year because they don’t have enough preparers. Their biggest limitation is the number of volunteers serving. For volunteers, they need greeters, intake specialists, tax preparers quality reviewers and site coordinators. The time commitment is 15-20 hours of virtual training (4.5 for intake specialist). They use a system to track their volunteer training/scheduling. Training consists of on-demand videos that can be viewed at your convenience, live virtual support and in=person sessions. There is a certification exam (from the IRS) at the end. Various in-person shifts available at each location. Fully remote volunteering is available as well anywhere with a secure, Internet connection. To get involved, visit their website at vitataxprep.org. Bilky asked why they didn’t hire people with the money on the table to reach more people. Michele answered that the funding from the IRS stipulates that it must be done by volunteers. Chris asked if they served 5% of the population, how many people did not get served? This number is over 100,000. Kurt asked if they are giving advice about tax credits and available tax strategies they can use to benefit themselves. This education and information is provided. Judi asked if they needed more assistance for Limited English Individuals. They do offer an interpretation service but they are looking for bilingual volunteers. Joseph asked about tips and tricks to help battle those who don’t want to give income information. Michele mentioned that she has fourteen career counselors that are in high schools having these vitally important conversations. Cathy asked about if employers would be unable to admit they have staff that are under ALICE threshold. Since the mobile unit is just starting, they will navigate these conversations as they come. Cathy also asked if this was similar to an AARP program that helps seniors file. Michele answered that is correct. We adjourned at 1:15. Next week’s speaker will be Shirin Kambin, Professor of Political Science at Jackson College. Email for Ben Rathbun: Ben@rathbunagency.com |
