Residents of the Barren River area looking for help with filing taxes can get the assistance they need without paying for professional aid.

Community Action of Southern Kentucky’s Barren River Asset Building Coalition is offering anyone who makes $54,000 a year or less free tax preparation and financial education services. 

Leslie Talley, director of community services at Community Action, said the non-profit has been offering this program for roughly a decade. 

“We believe in helping people become self-sufficient and we want to make sure people aren’t paying high fees for help with their taxes,” she said. “We want them to use that money elsewhere to pay bills and to buy food.”

The Asset Building Coalition’s webpage, casoky.org/brabc, includes a link to a list of locations people can go to for tax assistance. 

According to the website, there are nine locations, with at least one in each county Community Action covers except Hart and Metcalfe. 

The website also contains information about what days and times the different locations are open and whether an appointment must be made in advance.  

While many of the locations are Community Action offices, some outside agencies, like the Simpson County Housing Authority and Good Samaritan Logan County are also offering free tax services.

Over the years, more and more people have participated in the tax assistance program, Talley said, adding that Community Relief workers and other volunteers, who must complete IRS-certified training each year to participate in the program, completed nearly 1,400 tax filings for the 2015 tax year. 

She said the growth of participation in the program is largely because of word of mouth and satisfied people returning for help the next year. 

“We have repeaters who come back every year and tell more people,” she said.  

Tax services will be available at all locations until April 14, four days before Tax Day, except for the Housing Authority of Bowling Green, which stops offering help with taxes on April 9, and Logan County Good Samaritan and Branches of Barren County, which both stop on April 13.  

Denise McDonald, executive director of Logan County Good Samaritan, said people getting free tax assistance through Community Action’s program can save hundreds of dollars by opting not to go to a professional tax service.

“That’s money they could be putting toward something else,” she said. “For a lot of clients, that’s a month’s worth of rent.”

The appeal of the program stems partly from the fact volunteers will take the time to explain tax policy to the people they assist, McDonald said. 

“They like the way we explain things,” she said. “We try to make sure they understand everything.”

Ryan Braber, media advocate for Branches of Barren County, a Barren River Area Safe Space location, said demand for the free tax services has increased through the years.

People appreciate the group’s efforts to educate them about the tax system as much as they can, he said. 

“We have so many folks that come out every year, and they know us and trust us,” he said. 

— Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.