D.C. residents who volunteer their time to mentor District youth would be in line for a city income tax credit under legislation to be considered by the D.C. Council.
Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells introduced a bill Tuesday, along with freshman at-large Councilman Michael Brown, that would create a $2,000 standard deduction for any adult who completes at least 104 hours of volunteer youth mentoring in a recognized program.
“As it stands today, if you donate a coat to the Salvation Army or donate an old computer to a tutoring program, the value of your donation is recognized with a tax deduction,” Wells said. “But we don’t place a similar value on time — a donation of something much more precious and limited.”
The District “faces a critical shortage of mentors available to work with youth needing their help and guidance,” Wells said, despite evidence that youth who are mentored are 52 percent less likely to skip a day of school, 46 percent less likely to start using drugs and 27 percent less likely to drink alcohol illegally.
People are much more likely in difficult economic times to focus on their own problems rather than those of others, said Patrick Lemmon, interim executive director of D.C.-based Mentors Inc. So anything that makes it easier and more flexible to volunteer as a mentor is “extremely welcome.”
“There is absolutely a shortage of mentors available,” Lemmon said. “We know that mentoring is incredibly important in the lives of youth. We also know it’s incredibly time-intensive.”
But one council source familiar with last year’s version of the legislation questioned how the mentoring tax deduction would be administered. Who will attest to the time spent volunteering, the source asked, or to what a person’s time is worth?
“I can easily think of 10 ways to cheat on this off the top of my head,” he said.
The bill also would provide employers with a tax credit equal to 10 percent of the costs incurred by letting the employee take off work to volunteer. And it would allow D.C. government employees to use their accrued leave for the purpose of daytime mentoring.
