The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved 11 programs being hosted by nine local nonprofit agencies under the state’s Neighborhood Assistance Act (NAA) during a June 1 meeting following a brief public hearing with no participants. This marked the first year that Newtown has solicited and approved nonprofits for the program.

About three months earlier, each of Newtown’s 200-plus IRS-registered nonprofits was mailed a letter from the local Economic and Community Development (ECD) office inviting them to participate in the program that provides tax credits to business donors choosing to support these qualified programs through donations. The NAA is administered through the state Department of Revenue Services or DRS.

This year is Newtown’s first participating in the initiative.

Christal Preszler and Kim Chiappetta, along with Planning Office staff member and ECD team member Christine O’Neill, coordinated the project. O’Neill, who is Newtown’s NAA municipal liaison, provided a brief overview to selectmen on June 1.

The NAA’s mission is to offer tax credits to businesses who make contributions to nonprofit programs that benefit the community. Nonprofits are invited to apply to Newtown with any program they feel fits the definition of “neighborhood assistance” — whether it is equestrian therapy, a youth sports league, or adult workforce training.

There is no limit to the number of programs that can be approved, so long as they are in the spirit of neighborhood assistance.

With Newtown’s stamp of approval, these programs will be sent to the State as eligible for NAA tax credits. This means any business donating between $250 and $150,000 to these program will receive a 60 percent tax credit — in addition to the donation itself being tax-deductible.

“And if the program is related to energy conservation or college loan forgiveness, the tax credit for business donors is 100 percent,” Preszler said in a previous interview with The Newtown Bee.

The nonprofits and their corresponding programs receiving approval for the current NAA cycle are:

*Abbott’s Hill Farm — human educational outreach;

*Children’s Adventure Center — DSS Funding Families;

*Find Us Outside — Forest School and Nature Detectives;

*FISH of Newtown — medical transportation;

*Friends of Newtown Seniors — chore services and transportation project;

*Newtown Lacrosse Association — NYLA;

*Newtown Youth and Family Services — youth programming;

*Stray Kats Theatre Company — Still Crazy After All These Years Festival; and

*The Exceptional Sidekick — service dog training.

“NAA is a win-win-win for Newtown nonprofits and businesses,” O’Neill previously said. She reminds potential donors that “businesses receive tax credit for donating, so they benefit; nonprofits may net more donations, so they benefit; and of course the community will benefit from better-funded social programs.”

O’Neill said becoming involved with the program is also a great opportunity for ECD staffers to better familiarize themselves with the community’s many nonprofits.

According to the DRS, any tax credit that is not taken in the income year in which the contribution was made may be carried back to the two immediately preceding income years (beginning with the earlier of such years).

The program has several statutory limits, however; they include:

*A business is limited to receiving $150,000 in tax credit annually.

*A nonprofit organization is limited to receiving $150,000 in contributions in the aggregate.

*The minimum contribution on which credit can be granted is $250.

*The program has a $5 million cap, which, if exceeded, results in proration of approved donations.

Any business requesting a tax credit under the Neighborhood Assistance Act Program must complete a separate Form NAA-02 for each program it wishes to sponsor. The contribution must be cash, and needs to be made in the corporation’s income year that corresponds to the same year as the approved program.

Form NAA-02 must be submitted to DRS from September 15 through October 1, 2020. To accommodate the impacts of COVID-19, applications will only be accepted via e-mail to naaprogram@ct.gov.

No paper applications or fax transmittals will be accepted.