Parents always want to do the best they can for their children, no matter what type of background they have. In the past few years, some parents may have felt they couldn’t afford the Jewish day school of their dreams for their kids because of financial reasons, while others may consider those types of schools to be out of their price range, regardless. But if the best possible schooling is available and it doesn’t cost you anything, why not take advantage of that opportunity? Let’s take a moment to talk about the JTO. “JTO is something called a scholarship tuition organization that provides scholarships to children from families who need financial help for their kids to attend Jewish day schools here in the Valley,” says Tom Sylvester, who’s on the board of the JTO as well as the admissions director for Pardes Jewish Day School. “The idea is to make sure that any child who wants to go to a Jewish day school has the financial support to make it happen,” he adds.
Organizations like the JTO are fantastic, but they also have to raise money to make these children’s dreams into reality. One way they do that is through a dollar-for-dollar tax credit offered by the state. Sylvester explains, “A married couple can contribute up to $2,006 this year to the JTO and write that off directly from what they owe to the state of Arizona … So it’s a dollar-for-dollar match, basically.” The gist of this, is that if you owe money on your taxes anyways, if you direct a portion of that to the JTO, it still counts towards the amount you owe on your taxes. This means it doesn’t really cost anything to make the contribution, and the benefit to the JTO and their scholarship recipients is huge.
Although the fiscal year ends Dec. 31, people can contribute to the tax credit program into 2013. “People can still make a donation to the tax credit program for their 2012 taxes up through April 15, 2013,” Sylvester says. “It used to be you had to have your donation in by Dec. 31, but a couple of years ago the legislature extended it because people weren’t necessarily sure how much they owed in taxes because it was right on Dec. 31, so they gave them more time to prepare their tax return to be able to do this.”
So how does one actually make a contribution? Sylvester explains, “The easiest way to go is actually through the website, and that’s jtophoenix.org, and you can use a credit card and do it that way. That’s the easiest way; that’s the way most people do it.” Once the contribution is made, the JTO will write a thank-you letter back, which can then be used by your accountant or tax preparation professional to use for your taxes.
There are six schools that participate in the JTO in the Phoenix-metro area: East Valley Jewish Day School, Pardes Jewish Day School, Phoenix Hebrew Academy, Shalom Montessori at McCormick Ranch, Shearim Torah High School, Torah Day School of Phoenix and Yeshiva High School of Arizona. Last year, the JTO allocated a little more than $1.45 million in scholarships to needy students.
This year, the JTO wants to come close to doubling last year’s number by raising $2.5 million. But the issue is that some people think the tax credit donation system isn’t possible. “One [problem] is that they don’t believe that it’s true. It sounds too good to be true, you know, a dollar-for-dollar tax credit,” Sylvester says. Another issue just comes down to cash flow. Since the money goes out of the person’s pocket and to the JTO, there may be a delay between the time they donate and when they get reimbursed by the state. If money is tight, that can definitely become an issue, but there are other options as well. “Some people have money automatically taken out of their payroll — a payroll deduction,” Sylvester explains. “So it’s kind of painless; they don’t even see it that way.” The best part about the program, however, is that it helps so many kids get a Jewish education. “Actually this year, no one was turned away. Everybody who qualified for a scholarship got something,” Sylvester adds. And if the JTO can raise more money, then they might be able to increase the scholarship sizes as well. Currently, they’re at $2,500, $4,000 and $5,000, but there is always the possibility of giving more as well.
There are other donation options, particularly for corporations. Although there are a few limitations regarding the type of corporation and other details, certain businesses can make substantial contributions. It’s an area for potential growth for the JTO, and something for CEOs to consider. At the end of the day, the important part is that the parents who want to send their kids to Jewish schools have the opportunity to do so. With multichildren homes, this is particularly important, as the cost of a private school education can get quite steep. It’s good to know JTO does exist and is here to help out Jewish families across the Valley.
