LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 3, No. 47 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
32
From downtown to farm flocks: Loudoun loves chickens
October 11, 2018 ]
Federal Tax Bill Worries Local Nonprofits BY RENSS GREENE
violence against people. “One of the biggest reasons that an abuse victim will stay with her abuser is because of the concern that the abuser will then focus their abuse on the pets, and pets are often used as a tool to manipulate the victim to keep them in the home,” Stively said. And that has made the department an important partner to organizations like the Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter, said Executive Director Judy Hanley. “Domestic violence is an issue of power and control, and so anything that the survivor cares about is often used against them, whether it’s children or animals,”
While a new House Republican-supported federal tax bill is said to be unlikely to move forward in the Senate, its predecessor and some of its ideas are sounding alarms among national debt watchdogs—and local nonprofit leaders. The first round of tax cuts, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” that passed along party lines in December 2017, caused consternation among nonprofit leaders. It nearly doubled the standard deduction—which nonprofit leaders and scholars worried would reduce incentives for making donations. Loudoun already has below-average rates of charitable giving. The most recent study of giving by the Chronicle of Philanthropy reviewed spending in 2015, finding Loudouners gave 1.9 percent of their taxable income. That equates to a median gift of $3,685. Their generosity lagged behind nearby counties and the state average of 2.9 percent. Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties President Amy Owen said the difference between Loudoun’s charitable giving and the state average equates to about $70 million not flowing into local nonprofits. “That’s a lot.” With the standard deduction nearly doubled, Owen said, there’s less reason to itemize deductions such as donations to nonprofits. “Unless your charitable giving and other pieces of your tax deduction exceeds $10,000, there’s no immediate reinforcement for making that gift,” Owen said. She pointed to estimates that compared to about 30 percent of taxpayers itemizing deductions today, the higher standard deduction could mean only 5 to 12.5 percent of taxpayers
ANIMAL SERVICES >> 43
FEDERAL TAXES >> 42
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Loudoun County Animal Services Director Nina Stively pets Rubio, one of the cats up for adoption at the Loudoun County Animal Shelter.
For Pets’ Sake, Animal Control Officers Help Combat Abuse
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BY RENSS GREENE ome of the most vulnerable Loudouners get around on four legs, and the county Department of Animal Services goes the extra mile to help them out. Not everyone would lump animal control officers with child protective services or social services case workers, but in Loudoun, they serve an unsung role in offering abuse victims help and a way out. They have undergone the same crisis intervention training much celebrated in Loudoun’s Sheriff ’s Office, and when they respond to animal complaints, they’re looking for other signs of trouble. After all, said Deputy Chief of Field Services Angela Chan, domestic abuse
and animal abuse often go hand-in-hand. “If we can identify that there is a need for adult protective services, child protective services, mental health services, then we can make appropriate referrals,” Chan said. “Whether that is providing information for the person that we’re working with, or making contact with those agencies after the fact, we work very hard to coordinate to make sure that wherever there is a need, the person and the animal is best served.” Loudoun’s Department of Animal Services is a member of the county’s domestic abuse response team, which is a response model that is slowly spreading across the country. Animal Services Director Nina Stively said there is a link between violence against animals and
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