Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC)
Issue Committee Meeting
November 7, 2006
Minutes

Program Owner
Estelle Tunley
Shirley Washington
Michelle Jones

Designated Federal Official
Judi Nicholas

Attendance
Jerry Fireman, Chair
Bob Haines
Bill Matheny
Jerry Melchior
Wayne Whitehead
Doug Wilhelm
Bruce Zgoda, Vice-Chair

Absent
Kimberly Chowning

Guest
Carol Dillie Hatch, TAS Research

Staff
Dave Coffman, Program Analyst
Marla Ofilas, Note Taker

Welcome/Announcements
Jerry Fireman welcomed the members and reviewed the agenda.  Marla took roll and a quorum was met.

Customer Experience Subcommittee Report
Bruce reported that the subcommittee is getting ready to conduct a test survey between November 27 and December 1. The survey will include 21 questions and is estimated to last no more than 5 minutes.  

There was a general discussion regarding the questions on the survey. Members were asked to send Dave any comments via e-mail.

Action: Members will forward their comments on the survey to Dave.

Estelle noted that she did not want the survey questions and results to mirror the research completed by the TAB team. The intent of the survey is to get information on the taxpayer’s experience when he or she goes into a TAC office. Estelle would like to use the responses to take action to improve or correct an issue that causes the taxpayer to have a less than positive experience when they visit the TAC.

Judi clarified that the TAB team approached and asked Carol if the committee would consider adding some questions to the survey to gather data on TAC offices.

The committee reviewed the questions on the survey and provided comments. The subcommittee felt that an additional subcommittee meeting is needed to discuss and address the feedback received.    

Publication Method Guide (PMG) Subcommittee Report
Bob informed the committee that he recently e-mailed the members a revised copy of the PMG, which was originally written by Kimberly.  Bob asked the committee if the report should include the input from both the tax resolution representatives (TRR) and the TAC committee.   Jerry Fireman felt that the report shouldn’t include only the input from the TAC committee.  Dave asked the committee to submit their comments on the report to him via e-mail. 

Action: Members will forward their comments on the PMG report to Dave by November 14th.   

Program Owner Comments
Estelle had no further comments. 

Annual Meeting Update
Judi briefly reviewed the agenda for the TAC Committee meeting which will be held in Washington, DC in December.    

The committee discussed possible dates for their 2007 face-to-face meeting. The members felt they should schedule their 2007 face-to-face meeting after the survey has been administered.  Judi will ensure that the committee will discuss location and dates during the December meeting.

Frequency of Meetings
Jerry Fireman stated that the Joint Committee would like all committees to review the frequency of their meetings.    

Decision: The committee decided that, based on the survey and the execution of the survey, the schedule will continue as is (monthly).  Changes to this schedule will be made as needed.   

Self Assessment
Jerry Fireman explained that each committee is required to produce a self assessment report, outlining the committee’s accomplishments for the year.   The report is due by December 31.  Because a portion of the report is an assessment of the committee chair, Jerry asked the committee members to provide their comments to Bruce, who will collect the committee’s input and provide an anonymous summary to Jerry.   

Action:  Jerry will provide the members a final draft of the self-assessment before December 31.   

Closing
Jerry asked if there were additional comments. No comments were added and the meeting was adjourned.