By Mary Metnik

We are the volunteers for the AARP tax aid program. The tax aid program in our area has one purpose and this is to help the low and moderate income ($60,000) elderly and disabled in our area. We have a large population of elderly over the age of 60. Quite a number receive under $12,000 a year in Social Security benefits. Their main reason for filing income tax is to get the Homestead Tax Credit from the state of Wisconsin. This helps alleviate some their property tax or rent burden. Their refund is usually between $200 and $300.

If they were to go to a professional tax preparer, most of their refund would have to be used to pay the preparer. That is the reason that we provide this service for free. We ask that you consider this when asking for our assistance. There are peoples in our community who are in real need and we want to help them first. We can only do so many returns in the nine weeks that we volunteer.

We were able to do close to 300 returns this year. We wish to thank everyone who has contributed to our success and to all the people who brought us goodies. We are especially grateful to CoVantage for hospitality to us and the people we serve. Their tech people were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Arlen’s furnished us with a cell phone and minutes so that we could contact our clients and set up appointments.

We are still in need of tax preparers and greeters for next year. We have a wonderful group. We learn, help each other, and have fun while serving our community. Come and join us. For information, please call (715) 623-4539.

Mary Metnik