The December Youth Rotarian of the Month is Jax O. Johnson, a senior at Seward High School. He was honored at the annual Seward Rotary Pastor’s Day celebration on Wednesday, November 12 at noon at the Jones Bank and Trust Co. auditorium at a special luncheon meeting.  He is the son of Brady and Jill Johnson of Seward.

Jax is on target to graduate from SHS in May and is a member of the SHS Quiz Bowl team, a leader in the SHS Skills USA organization, competing at the state level in the Video Production competition as well as the Firefighting competition. He is active in the SHS Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club in the high school, and represented SHS in many FBLA contests at the State Competition.   He participated in the local SHS VFW Voice of Democracy Speech Contest as a sophomore, and was a participant in the local Poetry Out Loud poetry recitation contest at the high school.  He also participated for three years in the State Fair Education Division competitions including quiz bowl and the various educational tests.

Billed as a true community effort, the annual “Stuff the Cruiser” toy collection campaign and distribution of Christmas gifts to area children was again labeled a success by the event sponsors; the Seward Rotary Club, Concordia University Rotaract Club and City of Seward Police Department.  The collected toys were distributed in a celebration including individual shopping opportunities by the children’s guardians and parents at the Civic Center on Saturday, December 15th, hosted by the Seward Rotary Club, Concordia University Rotaract Club and Seward Police Department.  Over 100 area children were presented gifts and toys through this holiday program.

Joel Endorf, who is employed with Marla Bellitz Johnson CPA firm, presented the program at the recent Seward Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at noon at the Jones Bank and Trust Company auditorium.  Marla Johnson was Rotarian of the month and introduced her program “2017 Tax Cuts and How the New Tax Law will Affect You!”  The presentation was presented by Joel Endorf, complete with a power point presentation.

He noted that this is the biggest code change since the Reagan years and become effective December 31^st.  Most changes are temporary and will “sunset” after 2025!  Also, most preparers are looking for guidance with the codes and that guidance is delayed, which makes even more tax preparation issues. 

He noted that experts warn that tax preparation could take up to 30% more time to prepare tax returns because of the new codes and changed forms.  

Endorf also stated that 85% of the applicants will/should see a decrease in total liability, 10% will remain the same and 5% will see more liability.  He reminded the Rotarians that a decreased liability doesn’t mean a larger refund.