Trenton Thunder Corporate Outings
Corrections or additions?
These articles were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on December 22,
1999. All rights reserved.
Charity & Taxes
It’s end of year rush-to-donate time. For just one more
week you can make a donation that will help to slash next year’s
federal
income tax bill. Rose Dultz & Associates, the CPAs at 13 Roszel Road
(609-452-7733) has these tips.
Individuals can take deductions for charitable gifts only if you
itemize
your deductions on your federal income tax.
For donations of $250 or more, you must obtain and keepan acknowledgement of your contribution.For donations of $500 or more, you must keep documentationabout the recipient, a description of the donated property, its fairmarket value when donated, how you arrived at this value, and howyou acquired the property. You must also complete a 8283 IRS Formand attach it to your tax return.For property worth more than $5,000 you must have aqualifiedappraiser determine the value. This does not apply to publicly tradedsecurities and nonpublicly traded stock for which the deductionclaimedis greater than $5,000 but no more than $10,000.If you contribute property you will generally be entitled to an incometax deduction for the “fair market value” of the donatedproperty.But your gift must be made without any strings attached. For example,if you donate property and receive tickets to an event or otherprivileges,you can deduct only the portion of your donation that is a true gift– for which nothing is received by you.Gifts of capital gain can be favorable from a tax perspectivebecause not only are you allowed to deduct the cost of the property,but you can deduct the paper profit on which you have not paid tax.The gain on property escapes income taxes altogether.Thus, if you bought publicly traded stock for $12,000 two years ago,and it’s worth $20,000 now, you can sell the stock and donate theproceeds to qualified charity. You will pay a maximum of 20 percentfederal capital gains tax on your $8,000 gain, or $1,600. This leavesyou with $18,4000 to give to the charity and deduct for tax purposes.The tax-wise route would be to donate the stock directly to thecharity,and be able to take a $20,000 charitable contribution deduction, andowe no capital gains on $8,000 of appreciation.Top Of PagePennies for ChildrenCounting the pennies? These days, busy people are morelikely to count bills than the smallest of coins. If you take themto a bank to be collected you will get charged for the counting fee.But Better Beginnings, a non-profit child care center in Hightstown,set out to collect 1 million pennies ($10,000) by December 15 andsurpassed that goal a week early. The collectors are planning acelebrationin January and are starting on their second million.The penny collection is one of the ways the community has respondedto the crisis created by damaging funding cuts. “Pennies comein from all over. If you drop them off, somebody here will count them– staff members, parents, or board members,” says teacherAlthea Lewis. “Everybody pitches in together. Even thechildrenhere count the pennies, sitting at a table with a teacher.”The 32-year-old center offers affordable child care, preventionprograms,and adult workshops. Recent components added to close gaps includea literacy program and a small computer lab. Funded by the UnitedWay and other sources, the center determines its fees on a slidingscale, according to family income. For instance, a family of threeneed pay only $2.10 per week if the annual household income totals$1,800 or less.More than $10,356 has been collected to date. “This achievementis the result of a community pulling together, helping in variousways, to assure that Better Beginnings has been able to keep its doorsopen,” says founder Bettie Witherspoon. Steve Wendell,better known as the Ice Cream Man, collected more than 6,300 pennieson his rounds. Dennis McClary, who works at Sarnoff, collectedmore than 30,000 pennies, and Sparky James, a female auctioneer,collected more than 7,100 pennies at various auctions. “Tophonors,overall, go to Homer Justice, a sheriff’s officer, who pledgedto collect more than 50,000 pennies or equivalent, and did, with theassistance of his many friends.” The nonprofit also has anendowmentfund with memorials honoring various community leaders.Volunteers are needed to be nurturing assistants and literacyvolunteers;call 448-6226. The center is also looking for craft and needleworkitems, and at Lisa Marie’s Craft and Unique Gift Shop on Main Streetin Hightstown, sales of some of these items will benefit BetterBeginnings.For the holidays, Better Beginnings recommends peaceful andconstructivetoys. “No matter how expensive the toy children may receive, theyalways seem to settle down with and enjoy the most those gifts thatinspire their creativity,” says Witherspoon. A special craft ideawith directions may be placed in a brown bag or other container, alongwith all the materials needed to complete the project. Kits can beexpensive but self-prepared ones are very reasonable, especially whenrecyclable materials are used. Several craft ideas that may be adaptedfor such kits can be found at Better Beginnings’ website, along withfavorite recipes for play dough and “snow,” athttps://www.princetonol.com/groups/bbcdc.You can also get tips on choosing appropriate toys from the U.S.ConsumerProduct Safety Commission (https://www.cpsc.gov.Top Of PageTrenton Thunder Corporate OutingsTrenton Thunder’s two luxury suites went up for renton Monday, December 13. Businesses can start booking them for the2000 season.The suites, located on third base side of home plate next to theStadiumClub Restaurant, cost $650 per game, with a maximum of 30 individualspermitted inside. Purchase of the suite includes 20 game tickets,but an additional 10 tickets can be purchased for $15 each. Food andbeverages are available for an additional charge.Waterfront Park also has a picnic area that accommodates groups aslarge as 154, a picnic area that includes buffet tables, and aseparatesection where there are seats for up to 80 individuals. Call the groupsales department at 609-394-TEAM to get a schedule of games and tobook.Top Of PageY2K and UIt’s unlikely . . . but it can’t be ruled out,”is what the government says about Y2K. That’s the ubiquitous phraseused in “Y2K and You,” a consumer pamphlet on the Y2K issuerecently published by the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion,along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Federal TradeCommissioned. You can get a copy by calling 888-USA-4Y2K, or visitinghttps://www.y2k.gov.The pamphlet covers Y2K for the novice and the more socially alert.It also breaks down Y2K remediation progress by industry. For example,the electric power industry, according to the pamphlet, has completedmost of its Y2K remediation work, but local power outages can’t beruled out. Water system operators are prepared to go to back up manualoperations; the Fed, the FDIC, and the Office of the Comptroller ofthe Currency have also undertaken an examinations of their procedures,and feel confident about the date change. Credit card companies areon the ball, and even the media is stepping up Y2K compliance, sothat, even if we’re in the dark literally, we won’t be figurativelyspeaking.”Y2K and You” also includes a fairly extensive checklist foreach household:Prepare as you would for a long holiday by having at leasta three-day supply of food and water (one gallon per person per day)on hand.Make a personal assessment of critical items, such asservices required by family members with special needs.Have a supply of tools, clothing, flashlights, batteries,a battery-powered radio, and a first aid kit.Keep copies of important financial statements, medicalrecords and prescription drug information.Develop a list of phone numbers for hospitals, police,and fire departments.Only withdraw enough cash for a long weekend.Refill prescriptions.Keep your gas tank half full.Use telephones and Internet only as necessary on January1, to prevent delays caused by high volume.The final vote of confidence from our government: “Whileit is unlikely the Y2K issue will affect most of the appliances andelectronic equipment we use in our homes, the large number andinterconnectivityof computers we depend upon every day may make Y2K a seriouschallenge.”Top Of PageMS Office CertificateMake it a New Year’s resolution to learn Microsoft Word,Excel, PowerPoint, or better yet, all three. Mercer County CommunityCollege is offering Microsoft Office Certificate, a 10-week, “fromthe ground up,” program beginning on Monday, January 24, thatprovides instruction for introductory levels of Windows, Word, Excel,PowerPoint, and Access, and Intermediate Word, Excel, and Access.Classes are held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to3 p.m at the West Windsor Campus. Cost: $2,600, including books. Asecond session is being held from April 5 to June 21.Mercer College’s Institute for Business and Professional Developmentis also beginning the second semester of a new noncredit certificateprogram in Medical Practice Management on Wednesday, January 5.Participantsare required to take courses in “Computers and MedicalTechnology,””Financial Tools for Office Management,” and “The MedicalEnvironment.” Call 609-586-9446.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
