Year 37 Volume 24 (Jan 07, 2019)

CLUB NEWS

NEW MEMBER INDUCTION … What a great way to start the new year with the upcoming induction (next week?) of John Palmer, a District Executive for the Boy Scouts of America!

RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE … PP Betsy Jansen is going to be at the Ronald McDonald House next Tuesday, January 15 beginning at 4:15PM to prepare and serve dinner for the families residing at he house. This is another great way to begin the new year and Betsy needs about seven others to join her. Sing up sheets were available on the tables or contact Betsy to let her know if you can lend a hand!

UP WITH PEOPLE is returning to Denver on January 15 for four weeks and needs host families for 25 students for a period of either 2 or 4 weeks. Ezra, the Up With People staging coordinator, attended our meeting and is organizing a new cast of 100 students. Host families provide breakfast, dinner and transportation for the students. If you are interested in hosting a student, contact Ezra or anyone at the staging team at 303-460-7100 or staging@upwithpeople.org.

SMOKY HILL ROTARVARIETY OF NEWS … President Talee Crowe was proud to announce that PP LLoyd Gottman, CEO of Synergetic Systems, recently received the honor of Business Champion from the Vistage business executive peer group! Talee also announced the passing of PP Terry Remigio's 99 year old Father in Nebraska - our condolences to Terry and his family. The next board meeting is Thursday, January 25 beginning at 5:30PM at Susan Aubin's office. Friday, January 25, 2019 is the RI President's Dinner and it would be great to see Smoky Hill occupy a full table - registration ends at midnight on January 20. The cost is $65 per person - go to the District's website for more information and to make reservations. The Charter Night Dinner Celebration will be held on Saturday, January 26 beginning at 6PM. The location is to be determined. There will be no meeting on Monday, January 21 preceding Charter Night.

THIS WEEK'S THOUGHT … “Deep within us - no matter who we are - there lives a feeling of wanting to be the kind of person that others like to be with. And the greatest thing we can do is to let people know that they are loved and capable of loving.” - Fred Rogers

Sgt at Arms PP Jim Suss apparently has some form of the CREEPING CRUD according to President Talee and when he called, Talee did not recognize the voice on the other end of the line. PP Jeff Kaes was kind enough to fill in for Jim this week. There are many forms of the creeping crud, this is a picture of the green strain of Dysania which Jim is believed to have. Dysania is the struggle to get up on Monday mornings, particularly between the months of August through May, and often occurs immediately following retirement from work. GET WELL JIM! Dr. Jeff said he had several patients cancel their appointments last Friday due to the crud, reminded us that it is flu season and recommends everyone to get a flu shot, wash your hands, get a flu shot, cough in your elbow, wash your hands, get a flu shot, wash your hands, etc., etc.!

It would be CRUDDY to end this newsletter talking about the CRUD. Denver's white Christmas came a week too late this year but PP Nancy Jones and Dave enjoyed this beautiful snow covered back yard with family on Christmas in the sea-side community of Sitka, Alaska! Sitka is thought to be the most beautiful of all southeast Alaska cities. It is flanked on the east by majestic snow-capped mountains, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Nancy said Sitka has a population of only 4,000 and they all must enjoy the small-town splendor! [The beauty and clarity of this picture on Nancy's phone looked like a picture perfect postcard, much better than shown here, but instead of asking Nancy to email or text the photo to him, the Editarian went braindead and took a picture of the picture off her phone using his camera].

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

Sue Engelstad, former member and PP of Smoky Hill Rotary and a Rotarian at heart who often spoke of the awesomenessness of Rotary, gave a summary of the pertinent provisions of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act for individuals. The tax changes are generally effective after Dec 31, 2017 and most of the changes are temporary, sunseting after 2025. The seven tax brackets are still in place but exemptions for dependents no longer exist. The standard deduction for married filing jointly has increased.

Dividend and capital gains rates remain unchanged (15% for MFJ taxpayers with between $77.2k and $479k in taxable income). There are some changes to itemized deductions: the medical deduction threshold is 7.5% of AGI for 2017 and 2018 and it reverts to 10% in 2019, home equity interest is no longer deductible and the state and local tax deduction is limited to $10k for MFJ. Several miscellaneous itemized deductions can only be deducted if they exceed 3% of adjusted gross income: unreimbursed employee expenses, tax prep fees, hobby expenses, investment fees/expenses, legal fees related to producing income and safe deposit fees.

There is a new deduction for trades/businesses involving performance of services equal to 20% of qualified business income but the calculation is long and it has not been been clearly explained. Qualified business income does not include investment income or reasonable compensation paid from a S corporation or guaranteed payments paid to a partner.

The penalty to maintain insurance coverage (individual mandate) under The Affordable Care Act has been repealed for 2019 but is still in effect for 2017 and 2018.

There has been no change to the net investment income tax (NIIT) but investment fees and state income tax (amount attributable to investment income) reduce investment income to lower the amount subject to NIIT. Since investment fees are no longer deductible and state income tax is limited to $10k, this will likely cause an increase in the amount subject to NIIT.

The 2018 estate tax exemption is $11.2m and the 2018 gift tax exclusion is $15,000. Casualty losses are now only deductible if they are from federally-declared disasters. Alimony deductions from/inclusions in income are repealed for divorces executed after Dec 31, 2018. There is no longer a deduction for moving expenses. The AGI limitation for cash charitable contributions is increased to 60% from 50%. The 80% deduction for the right to purchase athletic tickets has been removed. Written acknowledgement is now required for any contribution of $250 or more.

The tax changes require rethinking and planning in many areas including choice of entity for business ventures, charitable giving planning, estate/gift planning and stock option and restricted stock exercise planning.

Duty Roster

SHRC Birthdays and Anniversaries

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