By Steve Taylor
PSJA ISD Superintendent Danny King speaks in support of the McAllen EITC Project at a news conference on Thursday, National EITC Day. (Photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)
McALLEN, February 1 - Taking advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit is not a win-win for the Rio Grande Valley but a win-win-win, PSJA ISD Superintendent Danny King said Thursday.
EITC is a refundable federal tax credit for people who worked full or part-time during the year. PSJA ISD is the only school district in Texas to have an independently operated EITC center.
“EITC is a big win for the students because it provides what is often lacking in schools – the real world connection,” King said, at a news conference to launch the McAllen EITC Project.
“It’s a win for the families because they get the economic assistance of working through some of those thick (tax refund) books. And it’s a win for the economy. It helps everybody. It helps the community.”
The McAllen EITC Project is spearheaded by the Children’s Defense Fund of the Rio Grande Valley (CDF-RGV), United Way of South Texas, and the McAllen Chamber of Commerce.
The Project seeks to raise awareness about EITC refunds for low- to moderate-income working families and promote a free tax preparation program. The project has two centers, one at Palm View Community Center in McAllen, and one at PSJA ISD’s Career and Technology Center, across from PSJA High School.
CDF-RGV started helping low- and moderate-income Valley families claim tax refunds for free in 2003 thanks to a grant from the Marguerite Casey Foundation. With the launch of the Campaign for Working Families in 2003, CDF-RGV was able to take a lead role in the Valley’s Financial Literacy Task Force.
The goal of the campaign was to help raise the standard of living for children by giving parents opportunities to increase income, accumulate assets and achieve economic self-sufficiency through the use of EITC and other federal tax benefits.
In 2004, CDF-RGV set up Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) centers at the UTPA Annex and Workforce Solutions Business Resource Center in Edinburg. It utilized the talents of 63 Edinburg Distributive Education Clubs of America students, all of whom were IRS certified.
PSJA ISD joined the project in 2006 when its Parental Involvement Center in San Juan was used as a VITA center. In 2007, 63 PSJA students worked at the Career and Technology Center.
“Last year, the PSJA project brought in over half a million dollars in EITC refunds. All the work was done by students for the families,” King said. “This year, expect even more. As of today, approximately 120 students have been certified as tax preparers to help families.”
King said that while working families win through receiving the assistance to secure a tax refund, and the local community wins through that new money being pumped into the economy, he was particularly pleased with how the VITA centers help PSJA students.
“These students get trained on the software, on the operating systems, on the mathematics of running a business,” King said.
“They do the in-take work of the clients coming in, the processing, the quality checks, working through the system, the customer assistance, the customer satisfaction. They actually develop employability, references, opportunity for scholarships.”
Another enormous benefit, King said, was the experience students get from serving the community. “There’s no value that can be placed on situations where they provide community service to others. They get that service-learning component as well. Just on that win alone it’s a win,” he said.
Among the sponsors of the McAllen EITC Project are PSJA ISD, JPMorgan Chase, IBC Bank, Bank of America, Frost Bank, Texas State Bank, Wells Fargo, Affordable Housing of South Texas, UTPA Accounting Society, Workforce Solutions, South Texas College, St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, and Community Hope Projects.
“This is all about moving the community forward and one of the big secrets I have learned over the years is that nobody can do it on their own. It’s about partnerships, establishing public-private partnerships, and partnerships between different public entities,” King said. “We are real happy to be involved.”