They say it’s better to give than receive, but the Lamar County School District is offering residents a chance to do both while benefiting the children of the district’s Pre-K children in the Early Learning Collaborative.
Any individual or corporation who makes a donation before the end of this year to the collaborative may be eligible to receive a 1:1 state tax credit for the donated amount from the Mississippi Department of Revenue on their upcoming tax returns. The department can match donations up to $6.5 million.
“We’re always looking for a way to help ourselves on taxes,” said Tess Smith, superintendent of the Lamar County School District. “To me, this is double – you get the credit for taxes, and you’re helping us educate pre-schoolers.
“I’m a firm believer in early learning, that the sooner you can get them into quality Pre-K program, then you’re setting them up for a lifetime of learning.”
Donations can be made by emailing Teresa.jenny@lamark12.org. The Mississippi Department of Revenue will award the tax credit on a first-come, first-served basis in which a tax return is filed, not in the order in which a donation is made.
So far this year, the school district has received $225,000 in support of the Early Learning Collaborative.
“That helps us with all aspects – everything from supplies to teachers, we can apply that to anything,” Smith said. “And you never know how long a grant is going to continue, so that’s why we rely so heavily on donations.
“What we’re seeing is that sometimes it’s individuals, and sometimes it’s companies that do business in the state of Mississippi – we get them from a variety of sources. But as long as we get it before the end of this year, then that tax credit will be offered when they do their taxes in April.”
