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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11232010 - C.68RECOMMENDATION(S): 1. APPROVE the Allocation of $7,500 from the CCFuture Fund to support the Community Housing Development Corporation's Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa for their 2011 caimpaign as recommended by Supervisor Susan Bonilla. 2. APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Deputy Director-Redevelopment, or designee, to execute a contract with Community Housing Development Corporation in an amount not to exceed $7,500 for their 2011 Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa campaign. FISCAL IMPACT: 100% CCFuture Fund- discretionary general purpose funds generated from the transient occupancy tax (TOT) from the Renaissance/Club Sport Hotel in the unincorporated Contra Costa Centre area, and designated by the Board of Supervisors to the CCFutures Fund. APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 11/23/2010 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema, District II Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Susan A. Bonilla, District IV Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor Contact: Luis Quinonez 925-521-7100 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: November 23, 2010 David J. Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: June McHuen, Deputy cc: Jim Kennedy C.68 To:Board of Supervisors From:Susan A. Bonilla, District IV Supervisor Date:November 23, 2010 Contra Costa County Subject:CCFUTURE FUND- ALLOCATION OF FUNDS TO COMMUNITY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BACKGROUND: The CCFuture Fund was created in 2003 when the Board of Supervisors earmarked a portion of the transient occupancy tax from the Renaissance/Club Sport Hotel in the unincorporated Contra Costa Centre area for early intervention and prevention programs that reduce high cost crisis/safety net services. The mission of the CCFuture Fund is to: …invest in programs and services that are results-based, family-oriented, collaborative, and available at critical points in the lives of children and families, thereby improving family functioning and reducing the high costs of dependency. The Community Housing Development Corporation (CHCD) requests $7,500 from the CCFuture Fund to help fund the 2011 Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa campaign. Funds will be used to support the operation of approximately 18 sites where 2500 or more taxpayers with low incomes will receive free assistance in filing their 2010 income taxes and obtaining their full and correct refunds including the Earned Income Tax Credit, a federal tax credit that helps low-income families stay employed and avoid dependence on local public services. The sites are staffed primarily by volunteers who are trained and certified by the IRS. Program operating support funding, to which this grant will contribute, is essential to assure that site coordinators, other staff and volunteers are properly trained, available to meet the public demand, and prepared with the knowledge, skills and correct equipment to file tax returns and comply with IRS service protocols and reporting requirements. Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa generates important and immediate economic benefits for the local economy, reducing the need for taxpayer-funded social programs and returning dollars to low-income families who otherwise might not receive their full, correct tax refunds. Typically these families spend their refund dollars locally, and for many the tax refund including the Earned Income Tax Credit is their main source of savings and economic stability. Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa (EKS) returned $3.9 million in tax refunds to more than 2500 clients in 2010, all of whom had incomes below $52,000 per year. The amount of EITC claims reflected in these refunds exceeded $1.5 million, an increase from $1.1 million since 2009 which was CHDC’s first year operating the program. This is an important and highly cost-effective contribution to improve economic conditions especially in the county’s low-income neighborhoods. CHDC continues efforts to expand the reach of EKS Contra Costa because of these benefits to the communities we serve, and in spite of the budget challenges that all nonprofit organizations face in today’s economy. The program increased the number of sites from 12 to 18 since 2008, with new sites located in neighborhoods with the lowest incomes in the county. It also works with the county’s Family Economic Security Partnership and other collaborative efforts to connect clients with additional services that increase their financial literacy and stability, and assists clients who do not have social security numbers to use an ITIN number from the IRS, allowing them to pay taxes correctly as well as collect refunds. For the 2011 tax season, EKS Contra Costa projects completing at least 2500 income tax returns for low-income taxpayers; generating at least $3.5 million in tax refunds; and claiming Earned Income Tax Credits totaling at least $1.2 million. For the Contra Costa community, the outcome will be that $3.5 million in refunds including $1.2 million in Earned Income Tax Credits, which otherwise would risk being unreceived, circulates in the local economy and helps low-income families become more financially secure and avoid dependence on public assistance programs. Because this service is free to the low-income clients, it also reduces the unintended public cost of tax preparation services and interest on refunds, which are paid for out of taxpayers’ credits and refunds. CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION: The number of people the "Earn It!Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa" campaign can reach will be reduced. CHILDREN'S IMPACT STATEMENT: None.