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a~ <br />Work Plan/Performance Meastares <br />inability to understand the tax forms. Over the past three years, a yearly average of 90o Orange <br />County low- tomiddle-income taxpayers have requested free assistance with income tax <br />preparation. The estimated 2002 population of Orange County was 122,538 as stated by the North <br />Carolina State Data Center 2003. We expect the number of requests to increase to approximately <br />r2oo this year due to population grov,=th, influx of Hispanics, and a higher rate of poverty due to the <br />economy. VITA has been developed to increase the target group's access to these services, thus <br />leading to compliance with filing taxes that are accurate and acost-savings for clients, <br />Part 2: Action Plan <br />r) Prior to tax season: An RSVP-VITA Board will plan sites, training agenda, schedules, recruitment, <br />publicity and inventory machines/supplies, VITA volunteers translate and with RSVP staff, prepare <br />and distribute publicity in English and Spanish to media and community sites, Volunteers study tax <br />manuals and attend training prior' to service, All volunteers recruit volunteers, <br />2)During Tax Season: RSVP-VITA volunteers wiA provide income tax preparation and/or counseling <br />on federal and state tax returns. Through one-on-one assistance or a special phone line, a bilingual <br />volunteer will address the needs of clients who don't have access to interpreters. Volunteer <br />coordinators at each site greet clients and assist them with the initiation and completion of the tax <br />preparation process. Volunteers handle appointments, <br />3)Post-tax season: Volunteers continue to troubleshoot past clients' returns, when necessary. <br />Volunteer statistician compiles and analyzes data from VITA Client Response Card. (RSVP VITA) <br />RSVP developed and administers this program. An estimated q6 volunteers will serve r6oo clients for <br />a total of 450o hours including training to help this group file taxes. IRS-trained volunteers provide <br />32 hours of training on tax information to all volunteers and 8 hours on computerized preparation of <br />tax returns, The NC Department of Revenue will provide a trainer for state returns. RSVP will <br />Page 34 <br />