Hiring - APRO

noteworthyRSSS promotesHersh to supportspecialistCarri Hersh has beenpromoted to applicationsupport specialistfor RSSS. For the pastsix years, Hersh hasbeen the client supportcoordinator, managingclient support calls fromthe company’s CorpusChristioffices.JanMiller,RSSS directorof clientservices, says, “Carri hasdone an outstanding jobas client support coordinator.She was readyfor a promotion and anew challenge.Due tothe growth of RSSS overthe past few years, wewere able to do that forher. We believe she is theperfect person for the jobbecause she has learnedthe application but, moreimportantly, has developedrelationships withour clients over the pastsix years. She will beable to leverage thoserelationships in hernew position.”Congress passes one-year stay on AMT;tax returns most likely postponedRent-to-own customers may have to wait for their tax refund this spring due to thelast-minute passage of an Alternative Minimum Tax “patch.” Congress passedthe AMT legislation in a 352–64 vote on December 19 and President George W.Bush approved the legislation. “This is a critical issue for millions of people who dependon their refunds and could have a massive impact on rent-to-own customers,” says APROExecutive Director Bill Keese.After weeks of wrangling over AMT legislation, one of Congress’ last acts of 2007 wasto pass a bill that would put a one-year stay on the AMT before it reached further down intothe middle class. Congress has typically frozen the number of AMT taxpayers at 4 millionby “patching” the AMT, which prevents more middle-class taxpayers from having to facethe tax. However, the “patch” deprives $50 billion that the Treasury would otherwise raise.With such a late fix, however, the IRS says it needs up to seven weeks from the datethe legislation was signed in order to complete changes to electronic and paper tax forms.Therefore, the tax filing season that normally began on January 14 was pushed to January28. Some sources are even stating that the tax season may start as late as February 18.If that is the case, both paper and electronic filers who depend on their returns to assisttheir cash flow may have to wait a few weeks longer than usual. “Our customers are oftenstrapped for cash after Christmas and depend completely on their IRS refunds to remedythe problem,” says Shannon Strunk of Baber’s Leasing. “I suspect that it will come as badnews when they realize that this late fix may cost them as much as 30 days in time beforethey can fix any problems they were expecting to fix promptly.”With the delay in filing, the backlog at the IRS will be substantial. Last year, the IRSreceived 38 million tax returns by February 16, 32 million of which involved refunds.Premierfranchiseesopen stores inDelaware andFloridaTen-year RTO veteranand current U.S. ArmyReservist Steve Newmanopened a Premier Rental-Purchase store in Milford,Delaware, in November.Although Newman willnot be able to able tomanage the store personallyuntil he completeshis military assignmentin the Reserves, he isfulfilling his long-standingdream of businessownership in an industryhe says he loves.Called up for activeduty in 2002, it was thesecond time in 10 yearsthat Newman’s careergot sidelined. After hereturned, he becamean account manager forRentWay, working hisway up to manage oneof the best stores in theregion at that time andreceiving the company’sDirector Award.Although Newmanstill has one more year inhis current military assignment,which is closeby at Dover Air ForceBase, he has structuredhis RTO operation to includea manager who willrun things for him.In other Premier news,after a lengthy careerworking as a rent-toownemployee, DennisLingerfelt and his wife,Donna, opened theirown store in Jacksonville,16 PROGRESSIVE RENTALS