2. 2009 NJ Coordinators Meeting aka District Coordinators Meeting
Ken Hoffman
NJ State Coordinator

3. 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

4. Tell Us About Yourself 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. Bernie Madoff??? Well not exactly

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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
Ask volunteers to accept the cap
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

12. Paper
A significant amount of our expense is for paper and toner cartridges
For paper, use Staples NJTaxAide Tax Exempt, Rewards Card #
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

13. The Equipment Challenge

14. Previous Equipment Sources
AARP Foundation
Ocean County Grant
Company Donations
IRS
Site and corporate equipment loans
Partnerships

15. Equipment Requests 33 Laptops, 9 Network Printers
From districts >80% e-file:
2 network printers
From districts <80% e-file
33 laptops
7 network printers

16. Affected Districts District Laptops (31) Printers [Network] (9)
Burlington 7
Camden 1
Middlesex 5
Monmouth 10 6
Morris
Ocean West
5 [over 2 years]
Passaic 4

17. 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

18. 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

19. PARTNERSHIPS AND GRANTS

20. 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)

21. 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

22. 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)

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. Think Outside The Box Tax 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

29. QUESTIONS?
COMMENTS?