The Bottom Line
Small business is important to Central Oregon, and to Mid Oregon. Find tips and resources for business, and information about Mid Oregon’s commercial services and business members.
The Best Year Yet!
Our 60th — the best year yet!
2017 was a wild year, wasn’t it? Record snowfall, a once-in-a-lifetime eclipse in our own backyard and smoky skies were only the beginning of the excitement.
At Mid Oregon, it also meant some significant milestones and achievements. For instance, we experienced an unprecedented number of new members who joined our cooperative seeking the many advantages of credit union membership.
Loan and Asset Milestones
We crossed a key threshold of $250 million in assets, which reflects the growing strength of our cooperative, as well as the individual financial strength we’ve helped our members build over the years. We also exceeded an all—time—record of $200 million in current loans, as well as granting more than $1 billion in loans since our inception. Can you fathom the needs and dreams members have achieved for their families with those loans?
In addition, the team at Mid Oregon accomplished many goals to improve member service and convenience. We are working to keep our electronic services convenient and secure, and opened our seventh branch in the community of Sisters. We introduced a host of new free checking accounts for families and businesses.
Growth and New Faces on Our Team
Of course, all that growth also presented its share of challenges, too. As we’ve worked hard to promote our best team members to new positions, we’ve brought many new faces to our branches. We’re proud of our reputation as an employer of choice in our community. We are dedicated to continuing our culture of accurate and high-quality service to every member.
Beginning Our 60th Year!
November 2017 also marked the beginning of our 60th year as a member-owned financial institution. For many institutions, 60 years in business might mean becoming complacent, old-school, or irrelevant. For us, we are using it as a challenge to keep growing and evolving to meet your changing financial needs. We position ourselves as the financial institution that you’ll continue to rely on. In fact, we think our 60th year might be our best yet!
We thank you for your membership and support of your credit union and wish you the very best in 2018.
Pickleball Zone Is Taking Shape!
Pickleball Zone in Bend
Mid Oregon Credit Union is proud to support the economic expansion of Central Oregon through our commercial financing. Just down the street from our Administration building is one of the latest projects in which we are involved, the Pickleball Zone.
The Pickleball Zone, being built on 18th Street near Empire Avenue, is in construction. Planned to open this spring, it will give a year around opportunities to the over 2,500 enthusiasts in Central Oregon. The Pickleball Zone is part of Cascade Indoor Sports, also located nearby on High Desert Lane.
Indoor Recreational Opportunities
We are excited about the year around recreational opportunities which will be available. From the Pickleball Zone website, we learn some interesting things:
This state of the art 48,000 square foot multi sport facility will house the Trampoline Zone on the ground floor and 8 dedicated Pickleball courts on the second floor. The easy accessible lot has more than 120 parking spaces with room to grow.
The address of the new facility is 63040 NE 18th Street in Bend. Steele and Associates Architects are the designers and Kevin Spencer, Empire Construction and Development is the builder.
Butch Roberts will be managing the facility. He owns and manages Cascade Indoor Sports which is just around the corner. Butch has many years of experience in running an indoor soccer facility and sports programs.
About Pickleball
Pickleball is the fastest growing racquet sport not only in the country, but also in Central Oregon. Started in 1965 on Bainbridge Island WA, Pickleball almost lay dormant until a few years ago. Now Pickleball has moved out of the RV and retirement communities and, while still very popular amongst the baby boomers, the sport is attracting younger generations.
In August of 2017 the Bend Pickleball Club hosted the Pickleball Zone USAPA Pacific Regional tournament at Pine Nursery. With over 500 players, (90 of them from the Professional Pickleball Federation (PPF), the tournament was a huge success. The best players from all over the country competed in this major tournament of the Pro Tour.
Central Oregon has over 2,500 pickleball players from La Pine in the South to Prineville in the North. While there are lots of places to play outdoors, there are very limited indoor facilities.
Mid Oregon is glad to be part of creating a solution and bringing pickleball to more Central Oregonians.
Tax Tips for First-Time Filers in College
Unless you’re an accounting major, filing taxes may not be your idea of a good time. But if you don’t file, you may end up leaving a lot of money on the table. Going to file taxes for the first time this year? Here are a few tax tips for first-time filers in college to make this task easier and less stressful:
• If taxes were withheld from your paycheck, even if you only earned a little money, file your taxes so you can get some of that money returned to you.
• If you earned more than $10,400 in 2017, you must file a tax return.
• You’re eligible for at least 3 tax breaks in the years you pay tuition. They are the American Opportunity Tax Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit, and the tuition and fees deductions.
• If your parent still claims you as a dependent, you must mark off “I can be claimed on someone else’s return” on your form.
• File early. Waiting until the last moment will only make the process more stressful.
IRS and Other Resources
• You can file your Federal taxes for free and online by going to www.irs.gov. There are other free filing websites, found easily through an online search. Mid Oregon Credit Union members also get a discount on TurboTax. Through 2/15/18, using TurboTax online automatically enters you for a chance to win up to $25,000!
• You’ll have to pay state taxes to each state you are a resident of during the tax year. If you attend college in one state but live in another, check the residency requirements. See if you qualify as a resident or nonresident of the state in which you attend school.
• See the IRS resource page, “Reminder for Parents, Students: Check Out College Tax Benefits”
Tax Forms You Might Need
Here are the forms you’ll need to file your taxes and get your returns:
• W-2: Your employer will give this to you. It’ll show any taxes that were withheld from your paycheck.
• Form 1098-T: Your college will send you this tuition statement. It includes information you’ll need to claim education credits.
• Form 8863: This form will tell you if you qualify credits like the American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit.
• Form 1098-E: Use this to deduct the interest you paid on a qualified student loan during the tax year. Your lender will send this form to you if you paid more than $600 in interest.
Filing taxes may seem like a boring chore, but if you don’t, you’ll miss out on a nice tax return. And who wouldn’t like a little extra cash in their account?