Free Tax Preparation Sites are Open

Local residents can now take advantage of free income tax preparation services at any one of the 31 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites throughout the city. Services are available in English and in Spanish.

Individuals and families earning up to $45,000 are eligible for the free services. When visiting a VITA site, taxpayers should bring the following items:

� Valid driver's license or photo I.D.;
� All W-2 forms; 1099 forms, if applicable;
� Social Security cards or Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers for all family members; those who are filing jointly must bring their spouse;
� Checking and/or savings account numbers (up to three accounts) for deposit of their refund directly to their account.

All returns are filed electronically and taxpayers can expect to receive their refunds within seven to 10 days.

Taxpayers needing to receive their refund more quickly can apply for a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) at a zero percent interest rate through a special offer with City Employees Federal Credit Union. The RAL is available at 13 VITA sites this year.

The San Antonio Coalition for Family Economic Progress includes the City of San Antonio; United Way of San Antonio-Bexar County; Internal Revenue Service; ACORN, the Annie E. Casey Making Connections initiative; Catholic Charities and other community and faith-based organizations. Sponsors of the VITA program include Frost Bank, Bank of America, Broadway Bank, H-E-B, City Employees Federal Credit Union and the AT&T Foundation.
For more information about VITA or to locate a site, call the United Way helpline at 227-4357 or 2-1-1.

For more information on other services provided by DCI, call 207-8198 or visit www.sanantonio.gov/comminit.

 

 

Consolidation of the University Health System and San Antonio Metropolitan Health District:

The consolidation of the University Health System (UHS) and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD) is a big step to help avoid duplication of services, provide better medical services to the city and help in our objective to lower the city property tax rate.

UHS will take over the city's prenatal care, family planning, well-child screening, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and senior and refugee health services.  The intent of this consolidation is to provide additional preventative care to avoid expensive hospital services.  UHS also has the capability to refer uninsured children and women to Medicaid and CHIP to recoup some of the costs and make referrals to specialist if necessary.

The SAMHD will continue to be the county's health authority, overseeing countywide disease monitoring, restaurant inspections, emergency management and other functions.

Citywide Tree Planting Initiative

The Tree Mitigation Fund was established to allow for the payment of fees in lieu of preservation or reforestation during development.  The fund is utilized to pay for the Citywide Tree Program which includes public education activities, tree planting, maintenance, and preservation programs. 

The following program and new initiative will provide for an additional 1,200 trees.

Parks Tree Planting Program (800 trees)

This program, implemented in 2007, will allow the City to plant an additional 800 new trees within each City Council District to increase the current tree canopy in all City parks.  Funds will also be used to help establish a tree nursery at the new Parks and Recreation Operations Headquarters.  Over 800 trees were planted in Year 1 of the program and tree canopy maintenance was completed on 50 trees. 

Citywide Street Tree Planting Initiative (400 trees)

This pilot program will initiate street tree plantings in public rights-of-way, to include installation and an initial maintenance period.  The initiative will plant 400 large trees along highly developed corridors to clean the air, provide cooler temperatures, reduce the mowing footprint, decrease storm water and pollutants, and beautify public streets.   

The selected corridors for these projects have been impacted by tree canopy removal; have a declining canopy; are over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone; and/or have sufficient space within the public right-of-way to safely accommodate new trees.

Staff initially proposed three project sites to include:

1) Potranco Road (Districts 4, 6)

2)  Vance Jackson Road (District 8)

3) Lone Star Blvd (District 4).

These efforts will facilitate the planting of approximately 3,500 trees this year:

Neighborhood and Commercial Tree Challenge Programs - These Programs allow residents, neighborhood associations, and non-profits to plant and care for trees. Over 400 trees will be planted in FY08.

VIA Bus Stop Initiative - This new initiative will allow volunteers to plant and VIA to maintain trees at bus stops in each council district, with 110 trees being planted in FY08. 

Downtown Tree Planting Program - This new initiative will plant 250 trees in the Downtown Central Business District in FY08.

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Initiative - This program funds the acquisition of 1,200 trees for TxDOT to plant and maintain these trees at the intersection of IH-10/Loop 410. 

Community Tree Planting Outreach - This new initiative supports educational and outreach programs, and includes the distribution of 1,100 one-gallon trees, at no cost to community members. All recipients receive proper planting and maintenance instructions along with information about the particular species received. 

Afforestation Program - This program will plant 300 trees in areas to increase ecological function, increase tree canopy, and reduce storm water runoff and erosion.

With this action, the Parks and Recreation Department will take the lead in the implementation of the City's tree canopy programs.

The Citywide Street Tree Planting Initiative and the Parks Tree Planting Program supports the City's goals of tree preservation and enhancement.  Our office will keep you informed as the programs come online and I encourage all of you to consider taking advantage of adding to the tree canopy in District 10.

Telephone hotline and website created to advise citizens of highway and airport road conditions.

The partnership between San Antonio International Airport and the Texas Department of Transportation took a major step forward today in an effort to maximize public outreach during the Airport construction. Two new information features have been implemented for citizens to inquire about current construction that will affect travel in and around the Airport.  These features include:

The San Antonio River Authority is hosting public meetings to disseminate information to the public regarding the new FEMA DFIRMs (Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps).  The public will be informed about how/why the maps were created, how to formally "protest" or "appeal" the new maps, and how long the review process may take before the maps become "official".  At the public meetings, City and County staff will also briefly describe how these maps are being used to identify capital improvement projects and what capital improvement projects are currently funded.

Schedule of meetings around District 10 are provided below:

Tuesday, February 5^th at 6:00 p.m.

Hollywood Park City Hall, 2 Mecca Drive

Tuesday, February 12^th at 6:00 p.m.

Live Oak Civic Center, 8101 Pat Booker Road

Wednesday, February 13^th at 6:00 p.m.

Shavano Park City Hall, 900 Saddletree Court

Thursday, February 14^th at 6:00 p.m.

Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway

The complete meeting schedule and maps may be viewed on the Bexar Regional Watershed Management's website at www.bexarfloodfacts.org.  If you have any questions regarding the floodplain maps, please contact the San Antonio River Authority at 227-1373.

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