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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.
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Data Collection at Tax SitesEarn 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 510-238-2415 kbatson@uwba.org