Program helps local tax filers

No one likes to pay taxes, whether they are income, local property or sales taxes. Yet, there are times when some, usually at the lower end of the economic spectrum, pay too much in taxes, particularly to Albany and Washington.

With this in mind, officials in Washington some 31 years ago started to focus on making certain that not only did people file their taxes, but also filed them correctly (as one official representing the Internal Revenue Service indicated this week - no one benefits from jailing non filers and those in debt). Through the years the effort has devolved down to the local level; to have community organizations assist people in filing not only on time, but also to take advantage of any deductions they are eligible for.

This year the United Way (a board on which I sit ex-officio) headed a collaboration that included the Cayuga-Seneca Community Action Agency, the Human Services Coalition of Cayuga County, the Internal Revenue Service and 23 local organizations, put together the CA$H (Creating Assets, Savings & Hope) for Cayuga County Program to do just this. The United Way funded the program in addition to utilizing a bequest from the estate of the late Isabelle Stapleton. Using dozens of volunteers, the coalition trained a group of tax preparers to help people prepare and file their taxes.