Roger Boughten: AARP tax aide and Lucy Gotz comes to the rescue

Published 8:32 am Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Unsung heroes are those who make a difference in the shadows of the community. They are those “special” heroes who make the non-profits hum, the charities flourish and the small businesses prosper.You never read about them in the newspapers or see them on television but you benefit from their dedication to their work and their ability to make their contribution to the community and their neighbors lives a little better.

Today I share with you the story of a very special person by the name of Lucy Gotz. Lucy came to Austin from Minneapolis where she grew up with 7 brothers and sisters. She says that growing up in the 40s and 50s with seven brothers and sisters was not an unusual family. She was born with that unique gift of loving to work with numbers and excelled in school. Her husband’s career as an art teacher brought her to Austin, where they started a family. While raising four children Lucy found spare time doing income taxes for friends and acquaintances. She also volunteered her time to be the treasurer of the Friends of the Hormel Nature Center and treasurer of the Paramount as well as spending time involved in school related projects. When her four children left home, she found herself back in school. She graduated from Austin Community College at the ripe old age of 50 with an associate degree in business and accounting. Soon after she picked up the AARP Magazine and saw the need for tax preparers for the AARP Tax Aide Program. She was hooked. Twenty four years later, she looks back and sees that they have completed thousands of tax returns for free for people of all ages. This was especially true if they were 50 years of age or older and couldn’t afford a paid tax preparer. Lucy states strongly that individuals utilizing AARP Tax Aide do not have to be an AARP member. Lucy and her volunteer tax preparers expect to do approximately 1,000 tax returns during the current tax season when it ends April 17.

The tax program has a long rich history in the city of Austin. The program was first introduced to Austin in 1986. Before the program settled in to where it is now located, it was in a small room at the US Bank Building, where it stayed for two years.The program as it grew moved to the Austin Public Library where it was located for six years. Once again the number of participants increased, which necessitated a move to the Accentra Credit Union, where it has been for the past 16 years. The bank and its’ employees have been extremely generous and helpful in providing the majority of the lower level of the bank to house the program and its’ many volunteer staff and computers. The AARP Tax Aide Program has 10 local volunteers who are tax preparers along with seven volunteer support staff who answer the phone and provide assistance at the desk. Lucy is always looking for volunteers who love working with people and/or numbers.She provides a week long training program in early January for those who are interested and would like to help their Austin neighbors with their taxes. Not surprisingly, less than a fraction of one percent of the tax returns is returned because of errors.Our volunteers and Lucy Gotz do a superb job of preparing tax returns for the residents of Mower County. Thank you Lucy for a job well done! You are truly an unsung hero.

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