More working families in Cuyahoga County and Ohio received free tax preparation at volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) sites in 2006 than in any previous year, according to a new report from Policy Matters Ohio. The Cuyahoga EITC Coalition filed more than 5,600 tax returns, a 60 percent increase over previous years. Other counties in Ohio also dramatically increased their free tax preparation services to working families.

Nearly 40 percent of the filers served in Cuyahoga County qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The Coalition returned more than $6.5 million in total refunds to working families, allowing them to keep their tax return dollars rather than losing money to paid preparers.

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Slack grows in Ohio’s job market

Ohio’s job market looked sickly as the old year ended, showing a decline of more than 15,000 jobs from a year earlier.  Ohio has not added jobs since the end of the last recession, even while economists wonder whether the nation is entering another one. There are 58,000 fewer jobs in Ohio than in November 2001, according to seasonally adjusted payroll numbers for non‐farm wage and salary jobs released Jan. 18 by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).

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