Williamson County Financial Stability Coalition

The Williamson County Financial Stability Coalition (The Coalition) is a unique gathering of dedicated staff and volunteers who, over the past three years, have collaborated to strategically help low-to-moderate income and elderly residents become more financially stable.

The Coalition’s long-term goal is to improve the economic means of low-to-moderate income and elderly residents within Williamson County. The Coalition’s first step towards this goal was to expand the availability of free income tax preparation services across the County. The AARP partners increased their hours of operation in several locations and The Coalition opened three new VITA sites that were strategically located to reach the residents in more rural areas of the County. This first step in The Coalition’s strategy has allowed the low-to-moderate income and elderly residents the potential to realize a larger amount of earned income tax credits, child tax credits and education credits – as well as not having the expense of paying for a tax preparer – thereby increasing their income and improving their standard of living. 

Statistics

In the three years that The Coalition has been offering free tax preparation services, the number of families and individuals receiving these services in Williamson County has increased from 1,569 in 2009 to 2,958 in 2011. That’s an increase of 88.5%! Additionally, the total dollars these families and individuals have been refunded has increased by more than 81% – from $2,515,500 in 2009 to $4,574,418 refunded last year. Also of note is that an astounding $1,329,600 has been saved by these families and individuals since the establishment of the Coalition because they did not have to pay for tax preparation fees.

Description of Need

Williamson County is home to more than 500,000 people. According to the U.S. Census Bureau close to 20% of these residents live below the poverty level. Additionally, information from the IRS indicates that more than 10,000 low-to-moderate income taxpayers in the County utilized a paid tax preparer service. The Coalition and its volunteers are working to reach these residents. By receiving free assistance from The Coalition’s IRS-certified tax return counselors, we can help them save on the cost of tax return preparation while obtaining all their eligible credits, thereby improving their economic situation.

According to recent data from the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), 50% of the families in Texas with an annual income below $50,000 are considered “asset poor.” According to CFED a household is asset poor if it has insufficient net worth to support itself at the federal poverty level for three months in the absence of income. Asset poor households would not have enough savings or wealth to provide for basic needs during a sudden job loss or a medical emergency. Since this is the same audience that receives assistance in our free tax centers, The Coalition is planning to provide a one-day Financial Fitness Festival in the Spring of 2013 that will give these families and individuals some of the tools necessary to move them closer to financial stability.

You may email coalition@unitedway-wc.orgor call 512.255.6799 for more information.

Submitted by Estefana Rodriguez