In fact, the difficulty in recruiting and keeping volunteers for the Meals on Wheels programs served as the catalyst for passage of Colorado's volunteer mileage deduction legislation. When the Junior League of Denver sought a sponsor for the legislation in 1981, it turned to State Representative Eunice Fine, a Republican from Greeley, Colorado, whose blind mother receives deliveries from Meals on Wheels. At that time, the Meals on Wheels program in Greeley was having difficulty recruiting volunteers because of the cost of driving and the low mileage deduction allowed volunteers. Representative Fine could not travel to Denver to attend sessions of the legislature unless her mother, who lives alone in Greeley, received her meals. Knowing firsthand the importance of the volunteer mileage deduction, Representative Fine agreed to sponsor the legislation. The decline in the number of drivers for Meals on Wheels also was a factor in the decision of the Volunteer Bureau of Des Moines, assisted by the Junior League of Des Moines, to launch its successful campaign for passage of state volunteer mileage deduction legislation in 1981. Junior Leagues in Arkansas, North Carolina and Maryland also supported the passage of volunteer mileage legislation in their states. The Junior League of Portland, Oregon, and the National Council of Jewish Women organized support for volunteer mileage deduction legislation in Oregon, but the bill was not reported out of committee.

Volunteers Should Receive Equal Consideration

The mileage deduction allowed volunteers is based on what the Internal Revenue Service considers out-of-pocket expenses, i.e., gasoline and oil.

The mileage deduction allowed businessmen and the reimbursement rate granted government employees, however, are based on the computation of the average costs of depreciation, maintenance, repairs, tires, gasoline and its related taxes, motor oil, insurance and registration fees. Currently, businessmen are allowed a deduction of 20 cents per mile, and government employees are allowed reimbursement at the rate of 20.5 cents per mile. Volunteers, however, are only allowed to deduct nine cents per mile.

We believe that the volunteer mileage deduction should be computed on the same basis as that used for computing the deduction allowed businessmen or the reimbursement rate granted government employees. However, the Department of the Treasury refuses to do this because it considers volunteers' automobiles primarily personal vehicles and refuses to allow consideration of a proportionate share of general maintenance, general repairs, depreciation or fixed costs, such as insurance or registration fees, in computing the volunteer mileage deduction. Yet, we want to emphasize that gasoline and oil costs alone are not the sole cost of driving...even for the volunteer who already has a car.

The federal government's refusal to allow volunteers the same mileage deduction as that granted businessmen not only is a failure to focus on the actual costs of operating a car such as wear and tear on the tires, engine and exhaust system; it also indicates that the government does not consider the services of volunteers to be of equal value to society as those provided by paid employees. Furthermore, we believe the government's refusal to grant volunteers the same mileage deduction as that allowed businessmen is totally

inconsistent with the Administration's stated policy of encouraging voluntarism.

Some justify the IRS position by pointing out that government officials and businessmen pay taxes on the salaries they earn while using their cars. However, volunteers make an equally important contribution to society: they provide their time without pay to those persons and institutions most in need. Discouraging volunteer work with such policies as refusing to increase the volunteer mileage deduction will only lead to increased costs for the public sector if it is forced to assume services now provided by unpaid volunteers. It is especially important at this time of massive cutbacks in federal funding for social services, the arts and education that volunteers be encouraged, not discouraged, to provide their valuable services.

It is true that increasing the volunteer mileage deduction would take away some revenue from the federal budget. The Association's response to this argument is that the cost of the volunteer mileage deduction is far outweighed by the value of the contributed time. Last year, for instance, the members of the Junior League of Minneapolis contributed 203,000 volunteer hours. At the minimum wage, this contribution was worth $682,500--certainly a great deal more than the amount of tax revenues that would be lost because of the

volunteer mileage deduction.

High Costs of Operating a Car

Although the price of gasoline has dropped in recent months, the rate set for the volunteer mileage deduction by the IRS is still lower than the

estimates of operating costs provided by the American Automobile Association (AAA). The AAA estimates the operating costs to be 25.9 cents per mile for a six-cylinder standard car which is driven 15,000 or more miles per year. The cost per mile rises if the car is driven less--as many cars are. For example, the cost per mile for the same car would be 34.5 cents per mile if it is driven 10,000 miles a year.

Use of Automobile

We also question the government assumption that all cars used for business or government purposes are solely business vehicles. Persons with part-time jobs may have purchased their cars well before becoming employed, yet all their business driving is calculated at the higher mileage deduction rate allowed businessmen or the reimbursement rate allowed government employees.

Furthermore, the Internal Revenue Service's policy regarding the volunteer mileage deduction discriminates against the volunteer who is not employed outside the home--housewives or retired persons of both sexes. Elderly persons on fixed incomes are especially adversely affected by the nine cent volunteer mileage deduction. The director of the Colorado Office of Voluntarism, which operates under the aegis of the governor's office, reports that the activities most directly affected by the refusal of the IRS to raise the volunteer mileage deduction are the Senior Volunteer, Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs. Many of the participants in these programs are eager to volunteer, giving of their time to assist others provides them with a sense of accomplishment and a meaningful way of using

their empty hours. However, the low mileage deduction often makes it impossible for them to accommodate volunteering into their limited budgets. We know, from the Association's experience with Volunteers Intervening for Equity (VIE), a national project that organized and trained older volunteers for community service, that retired persons make effective, caring volunteers. In turn, volunteering gives them a sense of accomplishment and being needed by their communities.

The experience in Colorado with the volunteer mileage deduction also highlights the need for the deduction among all volunteer groups. Colorado's legislation is restricted to those volunteering in health, nutrition or medical endeavors. These volunteers are allowed to deduct an additional 11 cents per mile from their Colorado state income tax. The Office of Volunteers in Colorado reports that the volunteer campground groups, which act as hosts at the state parks, are having difficulty in recruiting volunteers. Prospective volunteers for the campground programs hesitate to pledge their time because of the high cost of traveling long distances coupled with the fact that the state mileage deduction is not available to them.

The Junior League of Denver also cites an adverse effect on volunteers in education. There has been a drop in school volunteers, especially in lowincome areas and in urban areas such as Denver where mothers must drive across town to reach their children's schools. Today's high cost of living makes it necessary for many parents of young children to live on very tight budgets which allow little room for the costs of volunteering. It is important to recognize that there are additional expenses unrelated to driving connected