Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993 TAG: 9304020129
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
TAX REFUND PLANS? TRY CHECKOFF GIVING
Rather than spending your entire state tax refund this year playing Donkey Kong at the video arcade, you could toss a few of those quarters at the eight programs and organizations listed on the tax form.Last year, about 133,000 taxpayers gave $677,000 to the various causes, simply by checking a box to donate part of their tax refunds.
About half of that went to the Nongame Wildlife Program, which protects the state's wild animals (the state's party animals, Republican and Democrat, have their own checkoff boxes).
The nongame wildlife money is a major source of revenue for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Even though that agency got more donations than any other, its payoff of $332,000 last year was about half the amount donated in the fatter economic times of the 1980s.
On the other hand, a new checkoff program - the Elderly and Disabled Transportation Fund - pulled in a healthy $101,000 in its first appearance.
State Sen. Clarence Holland, D-Virginia Beach, got the fund added to tax returns after holding a public hearing in 1990 on the needs of older people in Hampton Roads.
The new program gives grants to communities to help get elderly or disabled people to the doctor's office, the grocery store, the pharmacist or anywhere else they can't reach by public transportation, said Robert Knox, spokesman for the state Specialized Transportation Council.
For instance, Roanoke County's van service for the disabled got $3,000 for computerized dispatching equipment.
Here are the other agencies with checkoffs on the tax form, and the amount of money they received last year:
The Housing Program: $113,000. This money goes to grants for local groups to build housing for the homeless, elderly, disabled or needy.
The Open Space Recreation and Conservation Fund: $103,125. That money helps the state buy land to create parks or preserve natural areas.
The U.S. Olympic Committee: $88,842.
The Family and Children's Trust Fund: $84,871. The fund provides financial assistance to organizations that deal with child and spouse abuse.
The state Democratic Party: $18,366.
The state Republican Party: $16,054.
Taxpayers can give any portion of their refund to most funds, but donations to the political parties are capped at $2 each. State tax forms must be filed by May 1.