Data Collection at Tax Sites Earn It! Keep It! Save It! (EKS) Bay Area SEPTEMBER 27, 2011 REI TOUR MAYOR’S LEADERSHIP ACADEMY- BOSTON

Purpose of the Survey To know who EKS tax sites are serving To report to funders and community partners To inform program planning and implementation

The Survey Anonymous 2-sided paper survey 21 questions (Demographics and asset building related) English, Spanish, Chinese

At the Tax Site At most sites, the survey is included in the intake process – taxpayers fill out the survey on their own (while they wait), or assistance is provided if needed Site Coordinators collect the paper surveys and submit to United Way throughout tax season

At United Way Staff collects the surveys throughout the season Data entry begins in March (thru June) Surveys are stamped with a serial number Data is entered in 2010 Excel according to tax site Staff or interns enter the data United Way provides regional, county and site level data

2011 Survey Summary 24,546 surveys (up from 2009 – 15,882) 115 tax sites Administered at VITA and Tax-Aid sites

2011 Survey Data Disability Question: Do you or anyone in your household have a disability? –Count increased over 2010 (3,082) to 2011 (3,589) = 15.6% (explained by general increase in surveys) –73.9% reported 2010 income below $30,000 –11% reported not having any bank account –72% said “yes” when asked if they filed taxes last year –16.3% paid to have their taxes prepared last year –54% will use their refund to pay bills and 16.7% will save part of their refund

Strengths Reliable data Less burden on sites - no reports required or data entry by volunteers Room for LOTS of questions No 7216 complications Paper survey for 3 years – great historical data Ability to provide reports to tax sites Data Slicer in 2010 Excel

Limitations No ability to connect to tax return data from TaxWise Staff time to do data entry and create reports As with any survey, we tweak it each year – creating some inconsistencies year over year

Contact Information Kelly Batson United Way of the Bay Area