Our little tax team

The tax deadline is fast approaching and I am really glad. I have enjoyed helping people with their tax preparation more than I thought I would. And, of course, I have enjoyed working with the people on our team.

I had no idea how the work would be organized since I'd never even seen them process returns.
The first person a client sees when coming into our office (which is housed in the Carmichael Library Community Room) is Esther. Esther makes sure that people are in the right place, feel comfortable, and have an appointment. She informs those without an appointment the telephone number to make one. When one of the tax aides or the site supervisor is available, she escorts the client to that person.


The woman in purple facing the camera, is Jane, the site supervisor. She works twice as hard as the rest of us since she not only gets all the problem cases but she also helps us with the few problem cases that do get through to us.



My fellow tax counselor on the team is Duane. He always seems so relaxed. That is probably the result of his years of experience doing this. He has seen almost everything. As all returns have to be reviewed for quality assurance, we often end up reviewing each other's work. I've learned a lot working next to Duane.


And finally, there is me - the newest and most easily confused.

In our four hour shifts (11 to 3 each Tuesday) we try to serve 4 people an hour per counselor. So ideally we would serve 12 people every week. Invariably, we have 2 or 3 no-shows or schedule changes. Like today, of our three 2:00 appointments, one came in early, one didn't show at all, and the last came but came alone when she really needed her husband along to sign some of the forms.

I've enjoyed this enough that I really hope I can be involved again next year.