Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) Issue Committee
Face-to-Face Meeting
Chicago, Illinois
November 1-3, 2007

Thursday, November 1, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007

Program Owner
Beth Tucker
Michelle Jones, Field Assistance Analyst

Attendance
Jerry Fireman, Chair
Bob Haines
Jerry Melchior
Wayne Whitehead
Doug Wilhelm

Guests
Jeff Wilson, TAS Research Analyst
Patrick Jackson, TAS Communication Analyst

Staff
Bernie Coston, TAP Director
Judi Nicholas, Designated Federal Official
Dave Coffman, TAP Program Analyst
Marla Ofilas, TAP Secretary

Opening/Welcome/Introductions/Review
Jerry opened the meeting. Each attendee introduced themselves. A quorum was met. The committee reviewed the agenda and the meeting materials.

Meeting Purpose and Goals
Jerry informed the committee that the goal of this meeting is to prepare the recommendations and fill in the body of the report.  Jerry asked the group to refrain from wordsmithing the document at this stage. 

Dave stated that this meeting is also a great opportunity to get input from both Beth and Michelle on how the document will benefit Field Assistance. 

Beth noted that she already agrees with some of the recommendations outlined in the report. 

Conclusions and Recommendations

Customer Survey Review:

The committee reviewed the conclusions and recommendations from the customer survey and provided their input.  Dave made changes to the document as they were discussed by the committee.
DECISION/ACTION: The committee will incorporate the comments Jeff made on the conclusions and recommendations. 
DECISION: The committee determined that each set of percentages listed in the report will not necessarily total 100%.  Only percentages which support a particular conclusion or recommendation will be listed.  Anyone interested in a complete list of the percentages may review the raw data.   
DECISION:  The committee decided to use whole number percentages to ensure consistency throughout the document
DECISION:  The list of TAC users by age will be listed in chronological order. 

Summary of Customer Survey Observations/Concerns:

The committee reviewed the summary of observations and concerns for the customer survey.  It was suggested that the words used in the observations describe “feelings”, not “comfort levels”.
DECISION:  The committee decided to remove the reference to Highway Use Tax.
ACTION: Jeff will prepare a cross-tabulation on the Highway Use Tax to determine if the reference should remain in the document. 

The committee discussed the need to compare the survey results on Internet usage with overall internet usage in the U.S. 
ACTION:  Dave will research a recent PEW Internet study.  Jeff will send Dave a link to the study.   

Employee Survey Review:

Bob summarized the main points of the review.   

Bob asked if there are any statistical problems with comparing the results from the 27 sites selected for the customer survey and the 400 sites for employee survey.  Jeff said that he doesn’t think there would be a problem with comparing information between the two surveys. 

Beth asked if it was possible to check the sites that took the customer survey with the employees (from those same sites) that took the employee survey.  Wayne explained that Estelle didn’t want to drill down to that level.  She was looking more for an overall comparison without any reference to a particular office. 
 
Patrick informed the committee that the customer survey summary is written as a statistical analysis while the employee survey summary is in a narrative format.  Both summaries should be consistent.    

Summary of Employee Survey Observation/Concerns:

The committee reviewed the observations and concerns and provided their input.  Dave made the changes directly to the report. 

End of Day Announcements
The full committee will continue to review the survey data during the evening and be prepared to discuss the changes during tomorrow’s session. 

Friday - November 2, 2007

Program Owner
Beth Tucker
Michelle Jones, Field Assistance Analyst

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

Guests
Jeff Wilson, TAS Research Analyst
Patrick Jackson, TAS Communication Analyst

Staff
Bernie Coston, TAP Director
Judi Nicholas, Designated Federal Official
Dave Coffman, TAP Program Analyst
Marla Ofilas, TAP Secretary

Welcome/Announcements
Jerry opened the meeting.

Beth provided some input on each recommendation that the committee was considering. 
ACTION:  Based on Beth’s input, the committee will consider including a better means of cash conversion on their recommendation to improve procedures to accept cash. 

Michelle explained that what the committee has completed is good work and Field Assistance management (Beth) can implement most of the suggestions.

Jerry asked if there was a method by which TAC employees can submit suggestions for improvement.  Michelle replied that there are several ways that employees can submit suggestions.  Submitting suggestions via the web site is the preferred method.  The suggestion is reviewed by top management.  If the suggestion is implemented, the employee is asked to submit the suggestion on a form so that management can provide an award to that employee.
 
Judi commented on the recommendation for Field Assistance management to hold focus groups with TAC employees.  She asked the committee to consider revising their recommendation to include a facilitator for each focus group session.  This would eliminate the need to have management involved with facilitating the sessions. 

The committee continued with editing the recommendations and rationales for each recommendation.  Dave assisted by incorporating the edits into the report as each item was discussed. 

Bernie explained that he will release the raw data to TIGTA on Monday. Members were not pleased with TIGTA’s early involvement in the survey.

Beth complimented the members on their progress. She felt the report will be an excellent tool for Field Assistance. She was impressed with how the members captured the dedication of the TAC employees.

The committee discussed placing a dedication within the document.
DECISION:  The report will be dedicated to TAC employees and managers.  A dedication will be made in the report. 

End of Day Announcements
Jerry reviewed agenda for tomorrow.  Topics to be covered include the report cover, appendix, and all other parts of the report that were not covered. 

Saturday - November 3, 2007

Program Owner
Michelle Jones, Field Assistance Analyst

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

Guests
Jeff Wilson, TAS Research Analyst
Patrick Jackson, TAS Communication Analyst

Staff
Bernie Coston, TAP Director
Judi Nicholas, Designated Federal Official
Dave Coffman, TAP Program Analyst
Marla Ofilas, TAP Secretary

Welcome/Announcements
Jerry opened the meeting.

Cover Page
The committee reviewed the cover page of the report that Patrick drafted.  The committee determined that a different color scheme is needed for the letters which make up the “Taxpayer Advocacy Panel” box at the top of the page.  They agree that the box’s blue background is a good choice for the cover page.  The committee also would like to see “Taxpayer Assistance Center” more prominent in the cover page. 
ACTION:  Patrick will make the necessary changes to the cover page and e-mail it to Judi. 

Transmittal Letter
The committee discussed and proposed some changes to the report’s transmittal letter.  They also agreed that the letter will be included as part of the report.  The dedication will be separate from the letter. 

Introduction and Executive Summary
The committee discussed changes to the report’s introduction and executive summary.  Information about TACs and the TAP program will need to be inserted into the introduction.  Also, some of the statistics in the executive summary will need to be updated.  Michelle noted that the position title of TRRs has recently changed.  The committee agreed that the report should continue to refer to the employees as TRRs but include the new title as a footnote in the executive summary.
ACTION:  Michelle will provide information on TAC for the introduction. 
ACTION:  Dave will insert information about the TAP program into the introduction.
ACTION:  Jeff will provide some updated statistics for the executive summary.
ACTION:  Michelle will provide Dave with the new title for TRRs.

Appendices
Dave provided examples of each document that will be used in the appendix. 

After reviewing the orientation handouts, Jeff noted that the orientation, provided to TAC managers and survey administrators, should be included in the methodology section. 
ACTION:  Dave will send Jeff an electronic version of the survey administrator orientation talking points.
ACTION:  Michelle will send Jeff an electronic version of the TAC manager orientation talking points.

Roles
Patrick wanted to clarify his role in the process.  Judi stated that Patrick will format the document so it looks like it was written by one author.  She also said that Patrick will provide grammatical and structural edits. 

Michelle said that she will work with the printers to get the report printed.  The report will be spiral bound with a glossy cover using card stock paper.   Michelle also confirmed that copies of the reports will be available for the annual TAP meeting in December. 

Judi noted that Beth will get the first copy of the report. 

Jerry informed the committee that he will give a presentation on the document at the annual meeting. 

Next Steps
The following action items were confirmed:

ACTION:

• Patrick will complete his initial edits and e-mail the draft to the committee, Beth, Judi, Carol and Jeff by November 16, 2007.
• There will be a conference call on November 20, 2007 to discuss/approve Patrick’s edits. 
• Michelle will continue to work with publishing on the report. 

Program Owner Comments
On behalf of Estelle and Beth, Michelle thanked the members for their dedication and enthusiasm for this project.  Jerry added that the task of administering a survey and coming to an agreement can be difficult.  The committee’s attention to detail and their ability to work well together made the job of TAC committee chair an easy one.  Jerry thanked the staff and panel members for their time and effort. 

Closing
Jerry closed the meeting and wished everyone a safe trip home.