Good Afternoon!

Happy New Year! Welcome to our first Chapter meeting of 2012 and my first meeting as your President. It is an honor for me to serve as your President. Carrie Hovell (2012 President Elect), the executive committee, and I are excited about working together in the upcoming year. We will continue to strive to make WMAC the best it can be. Please join me in saying “Thank You!” to Michele Eure for serving as our President for the last two years and her continued support as I start my tenure.

In 2012 we have five new executive committee members. Abbey Moran and Karen Ballard are working together on Committee Outreach, Jennifer Logan is working with Yvonne Reid
on Meeting and Planning, and Robyn Underwood and Cecilia Ragland are working on APA National Promotions. I am excited to work with these new committee members and would
like to thank them for volunteering. If you are interested in volunteering, please reach out to me or anyone on the executive committee -- we would love for you to join us. It’s a lot of fun
and a great way to help our organization. That’s how I got started over 12 years ago, and I have to tell you that is has been very rewarding for me because I have made many great friends by
volunteering.

At our December Chapter meeting, the recipient of the Payroll Professional of the Year Award was announced. Former President Michele Eure was honored to award the 2011 Payroll
Professional of the year to Yvonne Reid. Yvonne has been an unsung hero as she diligently works hard in the background ensuring our meetings are successful, comfortable and that the food is fabulous. Thanks, Yvonne, for all your hard work.

At the October 2011 all day planning meeting, we determined we wanted to increase community outreach and involvement within our membership in 2012. It’s important for us as individuals and as an organization to give back to our communities. Over the weekend before Christmas a small group of us went to Martha’s Table in downtown DC where we served the homeless Christmas Dinner. It was a wonderful rewarding experience to meet people from all ages and all backgrounds. My hope is that we as a group will do a lot more things like this in 2012. We also talked about reaching out to those who don’t know about WMAC and letting them know about our great organization. If you know any payroll professionals who are not a member or perhaps are unaware of our wonderful organization, please tell them what a fun group we are and invite/encourage them to join us.

We continue to work hard to let APA National know what WMAC is doing...past, present and future. We recently sent in our Chapter of the Year submission. Thank you to Carrie, Dan,
Margaret and all those who helped pull our submission together. For those of you who don’t know, APA National has a competition each year for the APA Chapter of the Year, which is
awarded at Congress each year. I’s a great honor to place in this competition and an even greater honor to win. WMAC has been the recipient of this award in the past and we will do it again!  Our 2012 CPP/FPC study group is in June and the planning process has already begun. Eileen and her team may be reaching out to those who teach. We can expect to see advertising of this event soon, I’m sure.

Our next chapter meeting is April 19th, and Brian O’Laughlin, APA’s Manager of Government Relations, is speaking on “Government Updates and Immigration.” We hope to see you there.
I encourage you to reach out to me with any thoughts, meeting topics or suggestions. The executive committee and I welcome your feedback.

Thank you,
Linda Dailey
2012 WMAC-APA President

Welcome New Members to WMAC!

Scott Harper
Julie Kensinger
Theresa Klancer
Celina Lord

by Anna Grabowska

For more important information on payroll legislation and regulations, go to the WMAC-APA website. The legislative updates can be found online at http://wmac-apa.org/content.php?page=Legislative_Updates. (Note: you must be logged in to see this page.) In addition to this Government Liaison Report, please check out the BNA Payroll Administration Guide Newsletters distributed at the chapter meeting. You can get more information on subscribing
to BNA’s Payroll Administration Guide Newsletter at http://www.bna.com/products/hr/pylw.htm.

Federal Updates
Social Security Employee Rate Cut Extended until March 1
Congress has passed a bill extending a contribution tax rate cut towards social security from 6.2% to 4.2%. It only applies to the employee portion
of the tax. Employer rate will stay at 6.2%. The rate will be applicable to pay for the months of January and February of 2012. Check with the APA
and your local chapter in March on any further extension or stop of the tax relief.

Business Standard Mileage Rate will stay at 55.5 cents in 2012
IRS has announced that the business standard mileage rate 2012 will stay at 55.5 cents. The new standard rate for medial or moving will decrease
to 23 cents per mile. Charitable purposes rate will say at 14 cents per mile for 2012. For purposes of allowance computation FAVR plan the standard
automotive cost may not exceed $28,000 in 2012, up from $26,900 in 2011.

IRS guidance on W-2 reporting for Employer-Provided Health Coverage
The IRS has released an updated and expanded guidance on W-2 Employer– Provided Health Coverage. Additional information on 3rd Party Sick Pay
requirements, coverage period reporting, and plan reporting is now available. Notice 2012-9 provides information in form of Q&A to give simple guidance. Also APA in their Payroll Currently, Issue #1, January 2012 has additional information.

IRS releases new circulars
The IRS has released the Circular 15 and 15-B with new and improved information for 2012. Download a copy from the IRS website. New rules on 15B fringes include info pertaining mileage, cell phones, transportation fringes, first responder benefits and simple cafeteria plans.

SSA eliminates phone and paper SSN verification
Social Security is in the process of eliminating the phone (TNEV) and paper SSN verification process. The online process will still be available for registered employers. Don’t forget E-Verify system also checks the verification of the SSN.

State Updates
District of Columbia
Employers must file W-2s electronically with the OTR if they are filing 25 or more forms by January 31st. The deadline used to be at the end of February. OTR also has released new withholding tables that may result in employee withholding.

New York
New Tax reform bill has been signed into law that is effective January 1, 2012. The law updates the Personal Income Tax (PIT) rates putting wages into wage brackets. Also certain employers will now be exempt from Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax (MCTMT or MTA) effective beginning April 1, 2012.

Maryland
The Comptroller’s Office has released withholding tables for 2012 revising the wage bracket and percentage method tables. Only one rate change is for Queen Anne’s County tax rate that went from 2.85% to 3.2%.

Congratulations to Jessica Tender, the winner of the 2011 Maureen (Reed) Brown Grant!

Jessica was presented with the grant at the December chapter meeting. In her grant application, Jessica said that the grant award would help her to pursue a course in multi-state payroll.

Jessica’s future goals for professional development include acquainting herself with HR knowledge. “Gaining an understanding of HR will round my skills as an HR/Payroll professional and position me to better serve my customers. In the long run, I would like to take on a management role and be involved in leading, developing and mentoring payroll professionals.”

Congratulations again to Jessica Tender!

By: Karen Ballard, CPP

During the holidays, on Dec. 18, members and friends of the Chapter volunteered to help at Martha’s Table in downtown D.C., serving holiday dinners to whoever was in that day’s dinner line, including the needy and the homeless.

All our volunteers found this a very rewarding experience, enhanced by chatting with other volunteers, Martha’s Table staff, and the diners themselves.

We felt privileged to be able to help share the holiday spirit with all these people, particularly those in need. The process was much more intimate than we had expected, which contributed to the atmosphere of caring. Rather than standing in a cafeteria line slapping potatoes on plates, we served the diners individually at their tables.

As diners left—and they could stay as long as they wanted, sitting in the warmth and chatting—we gave each one a hat and a sweatshirt against the cold.

We have reached out to Martha’s Table and are hoping to participate in their spring event on April 1. More details will be forthcoming as we have them. If you’re interested in coming out to help, please contact me at Community_Outreach@wmac-apa.org.

by Carrie Louise Hovell, CPP

In January, the National Promotions Committee submitted our application for Chapter of the Year. This contest allows our chapter to show the National APA everything we have done throughout the year in 2011. The Committee told National about our involvement in community relations through the Holiday Project, Ronald McDonald House, and Martha’s Table.  The chapter was able to demonstrate how our vendors get involved with our chapter and help us keep cost down for our members. Then we got to talk about our chapter lunch meetings and our involvement in the Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference.

The chapter was asked how we obtain new members as well as keep our current members active and involved. The Committee talked about our Facebook page and LinkedIn Group. But it doesn’t end there. This is when you come in. By having our members involved in chapter meetings, community relations events, all-day planning meetings, and social events, we are able to present a dynamic presentation to National about what our chapter does for the American Payroll Association and the community we are in. So as part of your new year’s resolution, please get involved with the WMAC-APA.

Oh, before I forget. When will we know whether or not the WMAC-APA has won Chapter of the Year?  The APA will be announcing the winner at Congress on Monday, May 7th at the Expo Grand Opening. Congress is being held in Orlando, FL on May 6th through 10th and if you register by March 16th, you will save $100. So be sure to attend to see if the WMAC-APA wins Chapter of the Year.

The following is a list of upcoming local and virtual APA events and classes.  WMAC encourages our memebers to take advantage of all the great offerings from APA.

To register for these classes and more , go to http://www.americanpayroll.org/course-conf/

Payroll Practice Essentials - Virtual Classroom ~ February 22; March 28; May 16
Intermediate Payroll Concepts - Virtual Classroom ~ February 28; April 10
Calculating Paychecks - Webinar ~ February 29 - March 13
Capital Summit ~ March 26-27
Advanced Payroll Concepts - Virtual Classroom ~ March 27
Mergers and Acquisitions Forum - Virtual Classroom ~ March 28; July 10
Wage and Hour Summit - Webinar ~ March 28 - April 5
Strategic Payroll Practices - Virtual Classroom ~ April 11, August 1
Payroll Issues for Multi-State Employers ~ April 18 (DC); April 27 (Baltimore)
Payroll Issues for Multi-State Employers - Webinar ~ April 18-27

APA/AAPA Annual Congress - Orlando Florida ~ May 6-10

Always confirm dates and classes on the website for American Payroll Association.

by Carrie Louise Hovell, CPP

At our December meeting, Robert Half International (RHI) was the Platinum Sponsor. Thanks so much to Rick Reisser and RHI for their continuous support of the WMAC-APA. Rick took this time to remind our members in attendance of what RHI has to offer, such as how they can help
your company place an open position or a temporary opening. If you need Rick’s assistance, please contact him at 703-760-7662 or rick.reisser@roberthalf.com.

Chapter Meeting Newsletter