SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
January 17, 2019
Sullivan’s Salvos 1/22/19
In this edition:
*Retirements
*Free Tax Help!
*Real Economic Development!
*Stock Market Perspective
*Did You Know?
*Retirements
Wonderful people come, and wonderful people go. A couple of retirements deserving of mention:
Jan Rutledge has retired after many years with the Iowa City office of Iowa Legal Aid. If you are not familiar with Iowa Legal Aid, you should be! In criminal cases, defendants who cannot afford an attorney have one appointed to them. There is no such thing in civil court.
In other words, if you get screwed by your landlord and cannot afford a lawyer? Tough. Get screwed by your employer and cannot afford a lawyer? Tough. Get screwed by the health insurance industry and cannot afford a lawyer? Tough. Try to leave an abusive husband and cannot afford a lawyer? Tough. Try to collect from someone who owes you money and cannot afford a lawyer? Tough. You get the idea.
The one and only solution for people in these situations is Iowa Legal Aid. And for many years, Jan Rutledge has offered this type of support and counsel to our neediest neighbors.
Jan has always been a kind, caring, and considerate professional. Thanks, Jan, for all your good work. You will be missed!
Our second retirement: Matt Glasson has retired after many years of service to working people – most recently at the University of Iowa Labor Center.
Matt is a great teacher and presenter, and does a wonderful job of explaining economics in a way that regular people understand and wealthy people fear.
On top of that, Matt has been the President of my union – AFT Local 716 – for the past few years. Congratulations, Matt, and thanks for all of your efforts on behalf of working people!
*Free Tax Help!
Don’t pay a fee to get your refund! The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program provides trained volunteers that will help you file your taxes. This service is available FOR FREE to people who earned less than $55,000 in 2018. E-filing is available, and interpretation services are available at many sites or by appointment.
“You Earned It. Now Claim It!”
Sites and times are available on the County website – see the Social Services Department for the complete schedule.
Spanish interpreters are available; interpreters for other languages can be scheduled by calling 356-6090.
*Real Economic Development!
This appeared in Salvos several times over the years, but it bears repeating as we approach tax season.
*What if I told you we could bring in 60 full-time jobs that would pay $15 per hour?
*What if I told you these jobs could neither be outsourced overseas nor subcontracted?
*What if I told you those jobs would be filled by hard-working low-income people, all of whom are local?
*What if I told you NO bribery (aka “tax incentives”) would be required to land these jobs?
*What if I told you there were no special workforce training programs required?
*What if I told you virtually ALL of the money earned would be spent locally?
What would happen? Well, the Chamber of Commerce would put it in their newsletter, and the Ambassadors would do a ribbon cutting. Debi Durham would come over from Des Moines and do a big press event, and the Governor just might join her. ICAD would tweet this success to the world. Mayors would grab gold shovels and pose for a photo. You might get a visit from a US Senator. The Press Citizen and Gazette would both do front page stories. The Corridor Business Journal would write a nice editorial. The region would be hailed for its forward thinking, and folks would talk far and wide about how well we do economic development.
So what if I told you the exact equivalent has already occurred? It has.
Several years ago, I went to a National Association of Counties (NACo) conference and learned about a program that had started in Cook County, Illinois.
As it turns out, a huge number of low-income workers leave money on the table when it comes to the federal income tax system, particularly the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Cook County created a series of free tax clinics to ensure this money returned to their county.
I did some investigating, and it just so happened that Johnson County had the same problem, though obviously on a much smaller scale.
So I pushed for Johnson County to begin a free tax help program. It struck me that we had a potential partner in the Tippe College of Business, and as luck would have it, I could not have had better timing. Dr. Joyce Berg was ready to greatly expand the work her student tax preparers would do. It was a perfect fit.
Former Supervisor (and current Legislator) Sally Stutsman was very supportive. Amy Correia had just been hired as Johnson County’s first Social Services Director, and Amy took the ball and ran with it, including securing grants to cover all operating costs. The Tippe College, ICCSD, United Way, Iowa City Public Library, and many others have become valued partners. In recent years, current Social Services Director Lynette Jacoby has maintained and improved upon all this success.
What are the results? The Free Tax Help Program brings well over $1.5 million into the local economy every year. It goes to low-income local workers, who spend it locally. And it uses no local tax dollars.
Remember when I said “60 full-time jobs at $15 per hour”? That adds up to a $1.78 million annual impact, just like the Free Tax Help Program. But the Free Tax Help Program is actually even better, because it serves over 1,400 Johnson County tax filers and their families!
Economic Development can take many forms. I happen to believe the Free Tax Help program has contributed a lot of good things to the local economy. We have not had any fancy groundbreakings or ribbon cuttings, but we have accomplished something!
So if you know Lynette Jacoby, thank Lynette Jacoby. She has done great work! If you know Joyce Berg, thank Joyce Berg. Her students have given much more back to this community than they could ever take.
*Stock Market Perspective
From Steven Greenhouse: “As we celebrate the Dow being at over 20,000, let’s not forget: Over half of all Americans are not helped by this. 40% of all stocks are owned by the richest 1%. 85% of all stocks are owned by the richest 10%. The top 0.1% of Americans has the same wealth as the bottom 90%.”
Consider this when you hear criticism of the proposals put forth by Alexandra Ocasio Cortez. There is a reason that monied interests fear her! They know they should pay more. She has called them out, and they have no defense. So they attack her age, race, or a video of her dancing in college.
*DID YOU KNOW? As of 2019, Johnson County became the first county in Iowa with 4 female Supervisors!
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.
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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 2:16 PM
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