Joint Committee Teleconference Minutes

December 17, 2002

Members present:

• David Meyer for Mary Balmer
• Mary Lou Beyreis
• Phil Bryant
• Mario Burgos
• Justin Doucette
• Walter Fish
• Gwen Handelman
• Ed Hanna
• Ann Junkins, Designated Federal Official
• Chris Lowe
• Sandy McQuin, Program Manager
• Paul Nagel
• Tom Seuntjens, Chair
• Leonard Steinberg
• Charles Taylor (joined conference late)
• Lillian Woo
• Barbara Toy, Note taker

Members Not Present:

Bob Meldman

Quorum: 14

All members did not receive Monthly Committee Reports early enough to preview before teleconference. The reports show as activity increases more issues will arise and prioritizing of the issues will be more important. Two of the reports had action items for the Joint Committee on how issues will be brought forward and handled by the Joint Committee. In the future, items listed as action items for the Joint Committee will be added to the agenda.

Approval of Minutes
Handelman questioned how the activity of distributing the Issue Capturing form and discussion in the committees was stated in the minutes. Seuntjens explained that the fear of an issue being lost was likely to happen in an issue committee when the issue does not fit within the parameters set by the IRS program owners. So, Area chairs were responsible for distributing the form initially but all chairs should remind their members to complete the form so the issue is brought to their area committee and not lost. The wording of these and two others were added to the minutes and the minutes were then accepted as final.

Hanna asked how we insure issues come to fruition and Seuntjens replied that the form would be used to bring the issue to an Area. After discussion in the Area and possibly forming a subcommittee to do further analysis of the issue, the issue could be sent to the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee assesses the value and prioritizes the issues and then decides the best avenue to elevate-to the National Taxpayer Advocate for the Report to Congress or to an IRS Program Owner.

Steinberg asked how different committees could avoid duplication of issues. Seuntjens replied that this was one reason for the Monthly Summary Reports and that the staff would also be providing reports that would categorize the issues and show which were active, or in parking lot. Staff will also research to determine if other committees are working the same or similar issue and share their research and analysis. But, it is possible for more than one area to work different aspects of the same issue.

Face to Face May 2 & 3 meeting location
Washington D. C. was the first choice for location of the May 2 and 3 meeting, Chicago the second. Seuntjens invited comment about the location of the meeting. It was generally felt that although it was not convenient for members traveling from the West Coast, the access to IRS officials and technical experts legitimatised the D.C. location.

Seuntjens felt part of the meeting should be learning about the IRS because it is important for the chairs to understand the IRS and position on issues. Handelman asked if someone would be available for a discussion on staffing and other resources for funding teleconferences, outreach, and meetings. Junkins replied that the Director and/or the National Taxpayer Advocate would be available to talk about resources and budgeting issues. Steinberg expressed interest in having the legislative liaison attend the meeting and Meyers suggested someone from the office of Tax Policy of the Treasury who assists the IRS in writing regulations and tax policy and also assists in drafting legislation. Junkins will assist in obtaining speakers on the budget and legislative issues. Chairs should use the time before our next meeting in January to decide what other issues or who else should be invited to meeting. Action: Inform Toy of your thoughts on this.

The meeting will be held all day Friday and Saturday morning. Travel should be on Thursday or early on Friday and after the meeting, Saturday afternoon.

Discussion of possible meeting locations ensued and McQuin reminded everyone that the meeting is open and has to be accessible to the public.

Self-assessment report form
This form is only the first draft. Each committee should review its goals and prepare an annual report for the Joint Committee. The joint committee will use the reports and prepare its own self-assessment for a final report to the IRS and National Taxpayer Advocate. Action: All chairs should send comments about modifications and other input about the self-assessment form to Toy prior to the January Meeting.

Speaker Request and Report & Capturing issues forms
The purpose of the speaker request form is to communicate to the TAP members the outreach of the panel either for their area or for their issue committee and also will be used by the program managers to approve the expense. The speaker or panel member that performs the outreach will complete the report part of the form. The form is also used for tracking the different types of outreach and should be used even if there are no expenses to approve. The tracking will help us better focus our outreach efforts and will also be helpful in preparing our annual report. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Issue form should be completed and a copy sent with the Speaker Report portion if issues arise from the outreach.

Handelman questioned why the Issue form would be sent to the Area Committee if not geographic in nature and why not directly to the Joint Committee for prioritization. If the issue arises in the issue committee but doesn't fit the program owner's parameters, the issue may fit better into another issue committee or not be raised by any one particular area. Handelman will send more of her thoughts on this issue to Seuntjens for consideration. Actions: the issue forms should be distributed to all members by the Area chairs. All members will send the completed forms to their Area Analyst who will perform preliminary research and analysis on the issue and report on the issue at the next area meeting.

Toy will send out draft copies of the reports that will be generated from the databases prior to the January meeting.

Central Location for Records
Members have trouble with attachments received by email--duplicates from more than one staff member, difficulty in downloading, and locating needed forms and records timely. Toy reported that a central location on the Internet including a Web forum was in the formation process and should be available to all members sometime in January 2003.

TAP message products (presentations)
McQuin reported on the message products that were developed and needed a few updates before they were finalized. There is one power point presentation that can be adapted for different types of outreaches and purposes-handouts, talking points, overheads, etc. The presentation contains a template page, which allows each member to personalize the presentation. McQuin thanked the committee members especially Justin Doucette who agreed to modify his original presentation for the entire panel. Action: McQuin will send the presentation to all chairs, the chairs should send their comments on the presentations back to McQuin, and final products should be available by January 6, 2003. Fish could not open power point attachment so McQuin will mail paper copy to Fish.

Seuntjens also thanked committee for their work on the message products. Lowe also expressed that the presentation was awesome and asked if there was any discussion of updating the Florida CAP's video. McQuin replied that the cost to do so was very prohibitive but that phase 2 of the message product's committee was to develop a continuous loop power point.

Travel, phone, and calling cards
Junkins reported that government phone cards would be issued to most members by mid-January and to the reminder by late January. Travel cards will not be issued. Airline and other carrier travel will be handled the same manner as it was for orientation and the interviews. Methods for paying for lodging were being looked into and IRS is close to finalizing what method will be used. McQuin stated the calling cards should be delivered by the end of January.

National Office Report
Junkins reported Deryle Temple has been selected as the new director of TAP and will report on January 6, 2003. She is currently the Area Director of Taxpayer Advocate Service in the North East and New York Area and has been with the IRS since 1983. Temple will serve as the Designated Federal Official for the Joint Committee and will be present at the January teleconference.

Junkins reminded the joint committee that face-to-face meetings are not a requirement for the Issue Committees. Each Area is required to hold a least one face-to-face meeting to gather citizen input. The meetings should be open, the public invited and in an easily accessible location.

Junkins also reported that a new process for posting Federal Register notices has been established and the problem of notices posting late has been resolved.

Seuntjens noted that not all chairs had completed their calendar for the first year and stressed the importance of scheduling meetings especially for the areas to reach the grass roots so the meetings can be budgeted. Steinberg mentioned that face-to-face meetings were also important for issue committees to meet with the program owners, work the issue, and perform outreach to the public. Seuntjens replied that face-to-face issue committee meetings were not necessarily being discouraged but each should decide what would make their committee effective and maybe your committee doesn't need one. Fish mentioned that the cheapest place was not necessarily the most effective. Junkins stated that we should be cautious about the perception we create when meetings are held in "resort" locations during the height of the season.

Miscellaneous
Junkins read the proposed holiday message proposed by Seuntjens and the staff. It was approved and will be sent out to all members by December 20, 2002.

Junkins mentioned that during the Holidays many of the TAP employees will be taking leave and with James McGurn taking another position, TAP staff may not be able to respond as quickly as in the past.

Seuntjens and the TAP staff are working on an orientation highlights conference call for the members that were not able to attend the October orientation. The calls are tentatively scheduled for January 9 and 16, 2003.

Seuntjens mentioned the difficulties of running meetings by conference call and that he and the staff put together guidelines of conference call etiquette that will be sent out to all chairs by December 20, 2002. All chairs should get comments back to Toy on these guidelines.

Close
Happy Holidays were wished to everyone.

Junkins mentioned this was her last teleconference as DFO and that she was returning to her original job in Labor/Management Relationships.

NEXT MEETING: January 21, 2003 Conference Call 1:00 p.m. ET

ASSIGNMENTS:

Toy

• Add items listed as action items for the Joint Committee on the Monthly Committee Reports to the agenda.
• Report on suggestions on agenda topics and possible speakers for the May meeting.
• Send out draft copies of the reports that will be generated from the databases prior to the January meeting.
• Send out Holiday message to all members by December 20, 2002.
• Send out guidelines of conference call etiquette to all chairs by December 20, 2002.

All Joint Committee Members

• Junkins will assist in obtaining speakers on the budget and legislative issues. Chairs should use the time before our next meeting in January to decide what other issues and possible speakers should be included in the May meeting. Inform Toy of your thoughts prior to the January teleconference.
• Send comments about modifications and other input about the self-assessment form to Toy prior to the January Meeting.
• Send comments to McQuin about message products after receipt.
• Comment back to Toy on guidelines of conference call etiquette.

Junkins

• Assist in obtaining speakers on the budget and legislative issues.

Handelman

• Send more of her thoughts on capturing issues to Seuntjens for consideration.

McQuin

• Send out draft presentation, solicit their comments, and prepare final draft prior to January 3, 2003.
• McQuin to mail paper copy of presentation to Fish.

Area Chairs

• Distribute the blank Speaker Report and Request and issue forms to all members.
• Inform all members to send completed issue forms to their area analysts who will perform preliminary research and analysis on the issue and report on the issue at the next area meeting.