Free income tax help

complete post high school education.

The theme for your 2023 essay is “How have you positively influenced your community with your voice?”

Completed applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 11, 2023. The link to fill out the application on Google Forms is available in late January on the Lakewood Pan American Association website, www.LakewoodPanAm.org

Volunteers are available at Lakewood’s Weingart Senior Center to assist low-income families, individuals and seniors in preparing their basic tax returns. Appointments are required and are available Mondays and Thursdays from Feb. 6 through April 17.

Call 562-630-6141 to make an appointment. The Weingart Senior Center is located at 5220 Oliva Ave.

If you are filing a joint return, both husband and wife must come to the appointment. Individuals with appointments should be prepared to bring in their tax information (W-2 or 1099 forms) and last year's tax return. The returns generally take about two hours to prepare, and every return is reviewed by a second tax preparer before they're filed.

The service is a nationwide AARP Foundation program called “Tax-Aide.” Through a cadre of trained volunteers, TaxAide has helped low- to moderate-income individuals for more than 40 years across the nation.

The program helps taxpayers receive applicable tax credits and deductions. Tax-Aide is free to taxpayers with low and moderate income, with special attention to those ages 60 and older. For more information, visit www.aarp.org/ taxaide.

Volunteers WILL:

• Prepare simple forms, including sale of homes and rental property (NO depreciation).

• Prepare Schedules A, B, C & D.

• Prepare K-1 (Interest & Dividends only).

• Refer technical questions/returns to the IRS or other professional assistance.

Volunteers WILL NOT:

• Prepare complicated returns preciation.

• Prepare business returns or complicated K-1.

• Answer technical questions for which they have not been trained.

• Refer taxpayers to any firm.

• Accept fees. ♦

Obstructions in streets not allowed in Lakewood

We all want to have our streets swept as well as possible. That’s especially important and especially a challenge in the winter with leaves and storm debris in the streets.

Lakewood prohibits obstructions in the street or in the parkway if they hang over into the street. Such obstructions can block street sweepers and be dangerous to vehicles in the roadway.

If you have such an obstruction temporarily for recreation or other purposes, please remove it as soon as you’re immediately done with it so it doesn’t become a hazard for motorists or a detriment to a clean sweep of your street. ♦

How to report a streetlight outage

the location.

Lakewood’s contractor, City Light & Power, maintains most of the streetlights in the city, with Southern California Edison maintaining the rest, including those in alleys. Each has a different type of pole number for identification.

If you notice that a streetlight in your neighborhood is out, here’s what to do:

• Note the street address closest to the streetlight.

• Take a photo of the street light’s pole number if possible.

• Report the outage and address to City Hall.

You can report the address (and submit the photo) by:

• Phone: Call Lakewood’s customer service staff at 562-8669771, ext. 2140.

• Email: Send an email to service1@lakewoodcity.org.

• Website: Go to the city website at www.lakewoodcity.org/ service

• Mobile: Use the free Lakewood Connect app (available from Google Play Store and Apple App Store). ♦