Congress considers a raise for Meals on Wheels drivers

Every Tuesday, David Killen picks up dozens of meals and drives a 31-mile route to deliver them to elderly and frail men and women throughout the Polytechnic neighborhood.

Some weeks, he picks up extra delivery shifts just to make sure that food provided by Meals on Wheels of Tarrant County makes it those who need it.

The miles add up, usually between 5,000 and 7,000 a year, and — while, as a volunteer, he receives no salary — he claims the mileage on tax returns generally every other year.

But the law only lets him claim 14 cents a mile for the charitable food delivery.

“It’s not really a lot,” 77-year-old retiree said.

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton wants to change that.

Barton, R-Ennis, filed a bill Thursday — The DELIVER (Delivering Elderly Lunches and Increasing Volunteer Engagement and Reimbursements) Act — to let volunteers who use their own vehicles to deliver these meals deduct the full standard business rate, which is now 54 cents a mile.

“It would defray a lot of the cost,” said Barton, whose district stretches to Tarrant County and includes part of Arlington. “Some people deliver meals one day a week. Some do it every day.

“If you’re using your own vehicle, … it can make a big difference.”

Charitable mileage

Barton and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-GA, developed the bill to help those who volunteer their time to deliver meals to the elderly, frail and disabled.

They hope to amend the tax code to boost the standard tax deduction for charitable mileage.

Optional mileage deductions for those doing charitable work have remained at 14 cents a mile since 1998, even as mileage deductions for business have fluctuated and risen from 32.5 cents to 54 cents during the same time, IRS records show.

“A lot of people with volunteer management have thought this would be a good thing,” said Nedra Cutler, vice president of volunteer services at Meals on Wheels, Inc. of Tarrant County. “Many people who deliver meals use their own vehicles.

“They put in a lot of miles by helping us get those meals out.”

Last year, nearly 5,000 volunteers delivering nearly 1 million meals throughout Tarrant County drove around 1.2 million miles, local statistics show.

Meals on Wheels officials tell volunteers about the potential mileage reimbursement, noting that volunteers need to track and record their own mileage.

A higher reimbursement mileage rate “would be a little incentive for more volunteers,” Killen said. “And, boy, do we need more volunteers.

“Every day is an adventure here for the people who coordinate this,” he said. “They are in a recruitment stage every day.”

Many volunteers don’t claim any reimbursement because, at 14 cents a mile, it doesn’t add up to much.

“But this could make a difference,” Cutler said. “Anything that helps volunteers fulfill their mission is something good.

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”

‘Reasonable change’

Dave Israelson, who has delivered food for Meals on Wheels in Tarrant County for about a decade, said his tax return includes miles he’s driven for the volunteer work.

His delivery route, which has been in the inner city area of Fort Worth, generally adds up to about 3,000 miles a year.

Bumping the amount he and others could claim from 14 cents to 54 cents “is justified and overdue,” he said.

“There’s a number of people I know who have to drive several thousand miles a year to do this,” said Israelson, a 72-year-old Keller man. “Something like this probably won’t make the difference between whether they continue to volunteer or not … but it is a fair and reasonable change.”

Congress has considered similar charitable-driving tax relief plans in the past, but none of the proposals ever made it to a vote.

Some have suggested that the proposals don’t move forward because they would cost the government more money.

Barton, a longtime Meals on Wheels advocate, said he doesn’t know if he will have more success this year. But he’s going to try.

“We will see what happens,” Barton said. “There’s not anybody who will oppose it.

“It’s a question of whether we can get it through the maze.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Congress considers a raise for Meals on Wheels drivers."