Friday, January 11, 2008
I'm from the United States...
Beats me, but somehow Blogger decided I was posting from Afghanistan. Nope, I'm still posting from the heartland. And for those who have emailed- yes, I am still here. I just have a lot of other things going on right now and there isn't much time to maintain this blog.
However, I do have a particular topic on my mind, being a citizen of the US: Tax Season is here.
That's a pretty huge deal for a lot of public libraries and we are no exception. For one thing, as far as I can tell there is really no other source in town where people can find the paper forms. Sure, the guvmint is doing a really nice job of making all the forms and instructions available to taxpayers online, but there is something a little on the sneaky side going on if you look closely.
By restricting the supply of forms available the government saves money in paper costs by shifting the burden to the taxpayers. Secondly, by not providing forms via their own offices the IRS shifts the costs to other service providers who recognize that NOT providing a way for citizens to have a place to see, examine, study and choose forms on their own (and in paper) amounts to depriving them of valuable and potentially money saving information. And being in the business of facilitating easy access to useful information, I have a problem with that.
Furthermore, this cost shifting simply amounts to unfunded mandates. Rather than spending money to promote the collection of revenue, the federal government instead now causes local entities such as libraries and the citizens themselves to do so. I suppose I could make an argument for shifting the costs to the taxpayers directly; it's their money in the first place after all. However, to shift costs to the local entities without regard for their ability to pay is just bad policy. To me, this is another example of the counter intuitive, yet completely correct findings of the 2006 Public Libraries and the Internet study, which argues that with respect to e-government, the lack of local funding for libraries threatens and restricts access to the very resources these initiatives are meant to improve. Sure, having a computer at home is great, but I have a building full of people every day who don't and countless more who do not have the skills to find the right forms online or to e-file. Maybe one day we will be there, but not yet. Not nearly.
I have spoken to a few library directors about this and frankly, most just look at tax forms the wrong way. They have told me we are wasting time and money by providing tax forms, and by the way, my people do a fantastic job, better than anywhere I have seen. Most of the directors I have talked to tell me they don't do it, and that if the IRS or the Post Office won't do it, there is no reason why the library should.
Unfortunately, what these well meaning people don't understand is this- paper will eventually go away and we will then provide access to tax forms and government information whether we like it or not. At my own library we see a steady decline in the number of forms we provide each year. In fact, we are below the number of forms we passed out ten years ago. Well below. Eventually the IRS will just stop allowing me to order bulk forms, in which case my staff will still distribute them, only they will do it by helping people figure out how to do it online.
Secondly, since we are currently seen by several thousand repeat customers each year as "THE ONLY PLACE IN TOWN" for tax forms, there is an enormous amount of goodwill shed upon us for doing the great job we do. Each year, patrons tell me they think we are doing the community a favor. Many also tell me they think it is stupid that we have to do this, but that it is great that we do. What is that worth, I ask.
To borrow a well used phrase: "Making you local tax paying patrons happy- priceless."
However, I do have a particular topic on my mind, being a citizen of the US: Tax Season is here.
That's a pretty huge deal for a lot of public libraries and we are no exception. For one thing, as far as I can tell there is really no other source in town where people can find the paper forms. Sure, the guvmint is doing a really nice job of making all the forms and instructions available to taxpayers online, but there is something a little on the sneaky side going on if you look closely.
By restricting the supply of forms available the government saves money in paper costs by shifting the burden to the taxpayers. Secondly, by not providing forms via their own offices the IRS shifts the costs to other service providers who recognize that NOT providing a way for citizens to have a place to see, examine, study and choose forms on their own (and in paper) amounts to depriving them of valuable and potentially money saving information. And being in the business of facilitating easy access to useful information, I have a problem with that.
Furthermore, this cost shifting simply amounts to unfunded mandates. Rather than spending money to promote the collection of revenue, the federal government instead now causes local entities such as libraries and the citizens themselves to do so. I suppose I could make an argument for shifting the costs to the taxpayers directly; it's their money in the first place after all. However, to shift costs to the local entities without regard for their ability to pay is just bad policy. To me, this is another example of the counter intuitive, yet completely correct findings of the 2006 Public Libraries and the Internet study, which argues that with respect to e-government, the lack of local funding for libraries threatens and restricts access to the very resources these initiatives are meant to improve. Sure, having a computer at home is great, but I have a building full of people every day who don't and countless more who do not have the skills to find the right forms online or to e-file. Maybe one day we will be there, but not yet. Not nearly.
I have spoken to a few library directors about this and frankly, most just look at tax forms the wrong way. They have told me we are wasting time and money by providing tax forms, and by the way, my people do a fantastic job, better than anywhere I have seen. Most of the directors I have talked to tell me they don't do it, and that if the IRS or the Post Office won't do it, there is no reason why the library should.
Unfortunately, what these well meaning people don't understand is this- paper will eventually go away and we will then provide access to tax forms and government information whether we like it or not. At my own library we see a steady decline in the number of forms we provide each year. In fact, we are below the number of forms we passed out ten years ago. Well below. Eventually the IRS will just stop allowing me to order bulk forms, in which case my staff will still distribute them, only they will do it by helping people figure out how to do it online.
Secondly, since we are currently seen by several thousand repeat customers each year as "THE ONLY PLACE IN TOWN" for tax forms, there is an enormous amount of goodwill shed upon us for doing the great job we do. Each year, patrons tell me they think we are doing the community a favor. Many also tell me they think it is stupid that we have to do this, but that it is great that we do. What is that worth, I ask.
To borrow a well used phrase: "Making you local tax paying patrons happy- priceless."
