Chief Dull Knife College

With the nearest tax preparer 110 miles away, a small Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (VITA) program run by the Extension Office at Chief Dull Knife College has made a big impact in rural Montana.

Starting with a modest 38 federal tax returns in 2006, the program completed 150 returns in 2007 and plans to expand to another site in 2008. When Land-Grant status was conferred on all 29 Native American colleges in 1994, staff at Chief Dull Knife College on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation immediately wanted to provide community economic and business development classes. They soon saw the need for more basic programs such as financial education.

Getting Started

Henry Thompson, extension service director at Chief Dull Knife College, knew free tax preparation would be a valuable service, but she was intimidated by taxes and impressions of the IRS. Through a family contact, she was aware of Community Action Project’s VITA program in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but it wasn’t until a meeting with Shannon Augare from Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Montana that she considered maybe her staff could do it themselves. With the help and support of Augare and her local IRS relationship manager, Thompson and an additional staff person began preparing tax returns in 2006. Her base was Chief Dull Knife College, a 2-year college with about 300 students serving the 5 primary communities of the 5,000-person Northern Cheyenne reservation in southeastern Montana.

The Reservation

Major employers on the reservation include the St. Labre Indian School, the federal government, tribal government, power companies and construction companies. The education system, farming, ranching and small businesses contribute to the economy of this rugged 445,000-acre area. Billings, the largest town in the region and the state, is 110 miles away from Chief Dull Knife College. There are small towns 23 miles away on the border of the reservation, but they may not boast more than a few gas stations, a store and some houses.

Marketing

Thompson wanted to start small to ensure they could run a successful program, so she started the VITA program in only 2 of the 5 communities. In addition, she did not market beyond placing an advertisement in the local free newspaper. But after the first year, word spread that you could get your taxes done for free by IRS certified tax preparers on the reservation. In the second year, Thompson opened a weekly satellite site at St. Labre Indian Mission School, 23 miles away. The mission promoted it through its employees newsletter, and that was enough.

Staff and Sponsors

The Extension Office at Chief Dull Knife College provides staffing for the program: including Thompson and three others. In addition, Vicki DeTavernier volunteers her services at the satellite VITA site at St. Labre. Supporting them all is an advisory committee of individuals who work in the community. Sponsors include Karen Heisler from Rural Dynamics, parent of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Montana, who provides technical assistance and training. Link and Learn and TaxWise University are also useful training resources.

Financial Education

This fall the Extension Office will launch an Individual Development Account (IDA) project, into which they will wrap financial education. Monthly workshops on personal finance management will be available for IDA clients, and offered to VITA clients once the tax season starts. Thompson and a staff members are working in partnership with Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Montana to become accredited financial counselors.

The Extension Office has offered financial education classes before, but they found that after 18 hours of classes, students would falter when asked to prepare a spending plan—they had no discretionary money to permit saving. “You could see it in their eyes,” Thompson says.

All that changed with the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the tax refund. Thompson remembers a young mother who desperately wanted to start a savings account for her children but had no hope of doing so. When the VITA program went online with her to an EITC calculator and showed her the refund she could receive, her eyes lit up as she realized her dreams might be possible after all. Another client she talks about was a grandfather who, with his wife, was raising their grandchildren. He hitchhiked from Busby to the VITA program and wanted to call his wife to share the excitement when he discovered his potential refund. Thomson values these personal moments and regards VITA as the most rewarding program run by her office.

Most important, one-on-one time with clients during tax preparation is the best time to make a connection and share information about financial management with community members.

Building Community

Thompson says the ultimate goal is to build community, to give reservation members the tools and resources to better their lives and build community. VITA provides the information (financial means) for people who want to make their community a better place.

At the Building Prosperity for Working Families Conference in Denver in 2007, Thompson was struck by the presentation on Financial Social Work. Like Native people, it took a holistic view. VITA, she says, won’t make an impact in the community by itself because there are other behaviors that block development. Consequently, Thompson wants to offer interconnected resources—IDAs, financial education, tax services, and explore how to integrate financial education into youth projects. She is looking into what Community Development Finance Institutions Fund might offer for individuals who want to save to open a business or even buy a home.

Rural Environment

A low population density and long distances between population centers make providing tax preparation services a challenge. Thompson has considered providing a mobile tax van, but where would clients wait without freezing during the winter months? Communication is difficult since many clients do not have home phones, and some areas do not have cell phone or Internet access. Some taxpayers have only seasonal incomes, and while an estimated 95% are eligible for the EITC and thus tax refunds, there are no CPAs on the reservation. Prior to the VITA site opening, most taxpayers went to commercial tax preparers in Billings or didn’t file at all. Getting anywhere is a problem—many residents lack reliable vehicles, or any vehicle at all.

Future Plans

Next year, plans include establishing a satellite site at another community center, but first comes determining which ones have Internet access. Also, the VITA program will open a week earlier, in the last week of January, to try to catch those who are driving 110 miles to Billings for a refund anticipation loan (RAL).

Impact

Thompson says it's rewarding to see people start making plans when they see hope on the horizon, once they realize they may have a little extra money that enables them to go beyond living day to day.

As well as providing a valuable service, reservation residents can see that people like them from the community are getting certified as financial counselors and IRS tax preparers—that local people can be as skilled and qualified as people from Billings.