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South donations would benefit both students, taxpayers By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Those wishing a hefty tax break that would also benefit South Medford High School have less than two weeks to take advantage of it. A little-known Oregon statute created more than 10 years ago recently has come to light, and school officials are scrambling to get donors to sign on before the Dec. 31 deadline. The money collected can be used only for child development and student-parent programs. Jack Day, a Medford school board member, said he already has received commitments from donors who would provide $30,000 to benefit the day care and teen parent programs at the high school. "I would be extremely surprised if I didn't raise $100,000 from now until the end of the year," said Day. He cautions that if anyone is interested in making a donation for the tax credit, they should contact their accountant to make sure they qualify for deductions that could add up to $9,350. "If I had a longer period of time, I think I could have raised a lot from this," he said. Within the time limit, Day plans to contact more than 50 potential donors who could benefit from the tax break. The statute allows 18 schools throughout the state to collect the money because they filled out the necessary paperwork. South Medford is the only school in Jackson County that signed up. Many of the schools didn't take advantage of the new statute because they believed the state would take care of the collections. Day explained that the potential tax savings are a little hard to believe. If someone were in the 39 percent tax bracket and gave a $10,000 donation, it would provide a $3,900 deduction in federal income taxes, a credit of $5,000 in state taxes and a state deduction of $450, yielding total tax refunds of $9,350. The Medford School District has received two calls from Portland-area residents who want to make a contribution. One is an alumnus of South Medford; the other is an individual who wants to donate to all the eligible schools throughout the state to get the maximum credit of $90,000. Corporations and most people in higher tax brackets can benefit from the donations. Galen Anderson, business director for Medford schools, said he has received commitments of $11,000 so far, but expects more as Day contacts more potential donors. "I'd like to stress that people make sure they contact their accountant before they donate," he said. Checks can be made out to the Medford Schools Education Foundation and sent to the Medford School District, 500 Monroe St., Medford 97501. For more information, call Superintendent Steve Wisely at 842-3621. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.