Area Committee Meeting Minutes
Area 3-January 16, 2007

Members in Attendance
Mary Armstrong
Dale Cooper
James Edwards
Patrice Maker
William Matheny
Henry Mosler
Alberto Rodriguez
Louie Scott
Charles Tice
J T Wright

Members Absent
Daryll Cordeiro
Donna Tremblay

DFO present
Carolyn Lewis

Staff in Attendance
Nancy Ferree, TAP Program Manager
Sallie Chavez, TAP Program Analyst
Isai Pallango,  TAP Staff and Note Taker

Welcome
Committee Chair Hank Mosler opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and stated meeting agenda will be followed as plan. It was stated that panel members should mention name before talking. No pubic / citizen were present for this meeting.

Roll Call
Quorum was met. 

Introduction of Guest
Chair Hank Mosler stated no guest were present for this Area 3 meeting.

Review of Previous Meeting Minutes
There was discussion of prior meeting minutes and approval of minutes will be rolled-over to next month as stated by Program Analyst Sallie Chavez.

Review of Joint Committee Call
Committee Chair Hank Mosler discussed 2-day TAP Chair training session held in Dallas. It was stated that Mr. Bernie Coston and Internal Revenue Service lead the Chair training session successfully. Mosler shared his enthusiasm working with other Area Chairs and looking forward to making significant progress in the coming year. Chair Hank Mosler suggested that panel members work on big issues in order to progress successfully.

Hank Mosler asked J.T. Wright, Max Scott, and TAP Manager Nancy Ferree for their comments concerning Dallas face-to-face meeting. Panel member Max Scott stated that Dallas meeting was outstanding and would like to retain same format for next year meetings. TAP Manager Ferree shared Scott’s comments and thanked all Area Chair’s for their participation and looking forward to next year meetings.

Panel member J.T. Wright stated that Outreach Activities will be significant for understanding taxpayer’s issues. All panel members agreed by consensus.
 
Subcommittee Reports
Issue 3671- SSN Not Matching Last Name
Panel members J.T. Wright and Patrice Marker are currently working on issue. Marker stated that she had nothing to report because of lack of information. J.T. Wright shared that issue was elevated and information was shared with Program Analysis Barbara Toy and Sallie Chavez. Program Manager Ferree and Chavez will work on issue next week and share information in the near future.

Issue 3921- Expanding Third Party Authorization
There was much discussion on this issue during the TAP Annual Meeting and it was elevated. Panel member Bill Matheny recommended that the authorization be one year from the date of extension and waiting for Internal Revenue Service feedback.

Combined TAC Issues
Panel member Bill Matheny stated there are various issues including delays of payments at IRS walk-in sites.  The issues will be combined and worked on with other areas and form a subcommittee to advance forward.  It was stated that a subcommittee teleconference was held and ideas were recommended and Matheny will provide details during face-to-face meeting.

Issue 218- Check-box Authority
Panel member Bill Matheny requested issue revisited during face-to-face meeting. Questions or comments were requested from panel members, but none was provided. All panel members agreed by consensus.

Chair Hank Mosler requested subcommittees to have teleconference meeting before face-to-face to gather ideas and move forward. Program Analysis Chavez shared that instructions will be sent to all panel members on how to conduct subcommittee meetings.

Analysis Chavez will assign issues to panel members to form subcommittees. It was stated that panel member Albert Rodriguez will team with Patrice Marker and form a subcommittee with Marker taking the lead. Panel member Charles Tice will team with William Matheny to form a subcommittee with Matheny taking the lead.

Face-To-Face Meeting
Program Analysis Sallie Chavez stated that Face-To-Face meeting will be held in New Orleans from February 22-24, 2007. Travel request forms will be sent to all panel members requesting completion and return to TAP staff Isai Pallango. 

DFO Carolyn Lewis stated city is safe and well-suited for meeting. It was stated that other Internal Revenue Service functions were recently held without security issues.

Outreach
Committee Chair Hank Mosler stated Committee Members should explore more opportunities to reach taxpayers concerning Taxpayer Advocacy Panel.  Panel member Mary Armstrong and Mark Paris stated participation in recent newspaper articles. Byron Edwards shared his outreach participation, which included one-to-one meetings. Panel member William Matheny requested members to visit TAC offices and report information.

Citizen Input
No citizen present.

Meeting Close
Chair Mosler requested comments or suggestions from panel members, but none was provided.

Meeting was adjourned.