The Scottdale Public Library has been a very important place for senior citizens during tax season.
Beginning in January and stretching to the tax deadline in April, volunteers through the American Association of Retired People, or AARP, will have helped nearly 250 individuals file their tax returns.
Library Director Patti Miller said the program has been at the library for more than 20 years and it has always been popular.
"People start calling at the beginning of December to sign up, but we usually don't start filling appointments until Jan. 1," she said. "Within two or three weeks, all of the appointments are gone."
Miller said AARP volunteers do 20 returns a week for 12 weeks. Ann Szczygiel heads that crew.
Szczygiel has been involved for a very long time with the volunteer endeavor.
"I saw an ad in the paper a long time ago," she said. "I always liked to work with numbers and I always did my own taxes all the time, so I said it sounded like the place for me."
Szczygiel said she enjoys volunteering.
"I think everybody should give back," she said. "This is the good old USA and we're helping people who are 60 years old or older."
While she enjoys the task, Szczygiel admitted that tax preparation is much harder than when she first started helping.
"But each year we get training," Szczygiel said. "We take a two-week course at WCCC (Westmoreland County Community College) and we learn all of the new changes for things that we're allowed to help with."
Miller said this program is just one of the reasons they worked to build a new library.
"We used to do it in the old library and we were literally cramming them in," she said. "Now we have the actual space we need to offer programs like this to the community."
Miller added that she believes the library is the only place in town where anyone, not just senior citizens, can come in and pick up tax return forms. Rent rebate forms, which have become very popular for senior citizens, are also available there. These forms allow senior citizens who rent their homes to get a nice sized rebate back.
"People come in November to see if we have the rent rebate forms yet," Miller said. "You can tell there's a downturn in the economy, because people are frantic to get them."
Szczygiel said she is excited about the popularity of the tax preparation program for seniors.
"We do get new people each year, but we see a lot of repeat customers, so that tells me that they are happy with the service we provided to them," she said.
