By Drew Johnson, Director, South County Community Services
As you are probably aware, we are in the midst of tax season. South County Community Services has been working behind the scenes with VITA – Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, a federal program administered by United Way of South Central Michigan – to bring free tax preparation to low-income households in South County.
We will act as a “Scan-and-Go” site for people to drop off their paperwork; SCCS is the first independent Scan-and-Go site in Kalamazoo County, so needless to say we are very excited!
I sat down with Cheri Puryear (Associate Director of VITA) after our tax intake training in order to learn more about VITA and its process. Here is a bit of our conversation:
Drew: How long have you been with VITA?
Cheri: For 15 years! I started as an intern with KVCC, then became a site coordinator in my second year with VITA. In 2014 I became the program coordinator for Kalamazoo and now I am the associate director for the nine counties that we cover.
Drew: What should clients bring with them to an intake appointment?
Cheri: They should bring all of their tax documents, of course. We also need a photo ID for each filer as well as a social security card for everyone on the return. This is to prevent identity theft, which is unfortunately a real concern working with taxes.
Drew: We are asking people to call ahead before they come in to drop paperwork because there are some intake forms to fill out and it will take some time. How long should we expect each appointment to last?
Cheri: We usually plan on about 45 minutes for each appointment—with about 20 minutes of that filling out the forms and the rest getting them uploaded and entered into the database software.
Drew: And what is the process after that initial intake?
Cheri: Depending on how the client asks to be contacted, we will either call, text, or email with any questions while we are working on the return. We generally tell clients to expect that the return should be filed in two weeks. At that point, their refund will either be deposited or mailed to them once it is accepted by the IRS and the State of Michigan.
Drew: I’m glad you mentioned the State of Michigan, because you also help people with state taxes, right?
Cheri: That’s right! We can help people apply for both the Homestead Credit and Home Heating Credit with the State of Michigan.
Drew: And, last but not least, what is the income cutoff for this program?
Cheri: $64,000 per taxable household.
Drew: Thank you so much for all of your efforts in getting this set up and for talking with me! We are excited to start soon!
More SCCS notes:
We are throwing another party for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren on March 27! See the ad in this month’s paper or call Brian (649-2901 x 7) for more details or to RSVP.
Our food pantry is in need of food donations! We gave away twice as much food in 2023 as we did in 2022 and our shelves are getting bare. There are two options for donating this month: We are the featured food pantry for the Simply Give program at Meijer on Shaver Road until the end of March. On March 2 and 23 Meijer has double match days, where they will match every $10 donation with an additional $20. This is a very important source of funding for our food pantry—we use it to buy difficult to find but useful and in-demand foods that we can’t get other places. We always take food donations! We are in particular need of Chunky brand soups, pasta, pancake mix, and canned ravioli at the moment.
Drew Johnson lives in Kalamazoo and is the Director at South County Community Services. He has a small quarter acre homestead with chickens, bees, and hops (and more!), a wonderful wife, and three energetic children. He can be reached at 649-2901 or ajohnson@southcountycs.com
For more information on South County Community Services, please check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/southcountycs or visit our website: southcountycs.com.
