Closing Date for the First-Time Homebuyer Credit Extended

N E W S   R E L E A S E
News Release: Immediate

For more information contact:
Phillip Peine
HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors
435-628-3663

St. George, UT, July 8, 2010 — Good news for those first-time homebuyers and long-time residents who were hoping to claim the First-Time Homebuyer Credit but were unable to close on their homes before June 30, 2010. Congress passed the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act on July 2, 2010, which extended the closing date from June 30 to September 30, 2010.

Keep in mind that the credit has not been extended nor has the time to enter into a written, binding contract been extended; only the time to close on a principal residence has been extended. The extension of the closing date will only apply to those taxpayers who already entered into a written, binding purchase contract before the end of April. Those who entered into a written contact before the end of April, and who meet the other first-time homebuyer or long-time resident requirements, now have until September 30, 2010 to close on their home.

As a reminder, the First-Time Homebuyer Credit will apply to those individuals who have not owned a principal residence in the U.S. during the prior 3 years from the date of purchase of their new home. To claim the full credit, married filing joint taxpayers must have modified adjusted gross income of less than $225,000 ($125,000 if filing single). No credit will be available to married filing joint taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income of more than $245,000 ($145,000 if filing single). Any home purchase for more than $800,000 will not qualify for the credit. The credit is fully refundable and is the lesser of 10% of the purchase price or $8,000.

Long-time residents who make a qualifying principal residence purchase could qualify for a credit of up to $6,500. A long-time resident is defined as one who has lived in the same principal residence for five consecutive years within the previous eight years, ending on the date of purchase of a new principal residence.

Please contact us for assistance on claiming your First-Time Homebuyer Credit. To find the phone number of the office nearest you, as well as for weekly tax tips, visit our website at www.hintonburdick.com.

Snow Jensen & Reece Names Two New Shareholders

St. George, UT, July 9, 2010.  The law firm of Snow Jensen & Reece announced the addition of two new shareholders to the firm.  Matthew J. Ence and Joshua R. Forest were both made shareholders in official action taken by the firm Board of Directors.

Mr. Ence has been employed by the firm since 2003 and is licensed to practice law in both Utah and Nevada.  His expertise is in the area of real estate, business transactions and general commercial litigation.  Ence also has extensive experience in water law and represents several rural water companies in Southern Utah.

Mr. Forest is licensed to practice law in both Utah and Arizona.  He joined the firm in the fall of 2008 after 6 years of practice with a large firm in Phoenix, Arizona and later with a St. George law firm.  Forest has had extensive experience in handling complex litigation involving construction defects, real estate disputes and securities.  His practice will continue to focus in these areas.

Ence and Forest are both cum laude graduates of BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, where they held prominent leadership positions including law review, the Student Bar Association and the Business Law Society.  Ence earned a B.S. degree at BYU in economics, while Forest received a B.A. in psychology from Southern Utah University.

Both are residents of Santa Clara and are active members of their community. Matt Ence was recently reelected to a second term to the Santa Clara city council.  He also serves on the board of the Washington County Solid Waste District and is a member of the Dixie Transportation Executive Committee.  Joshua Forest is a volunteer with the Ivins City Youth Sports Program and was recently awarded the 2009 Pro Bono Award for his service in donating legal services to various non-profit organizations.  In addition, Forest is currently serving as President-elect of the Southern Utah Bar Association.

Both Ence and Forest expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to become Snow Jensen & Reece shareholders.  “This is a way for us to reinforce our commitment to fellow shareholders of the firm and to the clients we serve,” Ence said.

New Attorney joins Snow Jensen & Reece

V. Lowry Snow, President of the law firm of Snow Jensen & Reece has announced that Tyson C Horrocks has joined the firm as an associate attorney. Tyson’s practice is primarily focused in commercial litigation, real estate and municipal law. “Tyson’s outstanding academic record coupled with his leadership experience makes him well suited to our firm," Snow said. "We are pleased that he has decided to make St. George his home and to practice law with our firm."

Prior to joining SJ&R, Horrocks clerked for a firm in Arlington, VA (Bean, Kinney & Korman, PC) that specialized in commercial litigation and real estate law.  He also interned for a lobbyist firm in Washington, DC called American Continental Group.

Tyson earned his law degree in 2009 at The George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC where he graduated With Honors.  Tyson is licensed to practice in Utah state courts as well as the United States Federal Court of Utah.

Tyson Horrocks is a native of Salt Lake City and he and his wife Laura are the parents of one child.   .

About Snow Jensen & Reece

The law firm of Snow Jensen & Reece (SJ&R) has established itself as one of the most respected and renowned law firms in southern Utah over the past nineteen years. The firm is committed to offering the highest level of quality professional services with competence and integrity.  SJ&R's knowledgeable, experienced attorneys have effectively represented clients in thousands of cases.  We pride ourselves on our long tradition of community involvement.

SJ&R was established in 1986, by V. Lowry Snow and Curtis M. Jensen.  Their goal was to establish a firm that would become recognized as one of the premier legal institutions in southern Utah. Over the years, SJ&R has been joined by the brightest, most capable and hard-working group of attorneys and staff who have added depth and expertise to bring about the goal of its founders.

Snow Jensen & Reece has earned the AV Rating in Martindale-Hubbell and has therefore been designated by our colleagues as preeminent in our field.

The Board of Trustees of Dixie Care and Share in St. George, Utah is looking for a new Director for the organization

Dixie Care and Share is dedicated to offering a hand to the less fortunate in Southern Utah by helping them obtain the basic necessities of food and shelter in times of personal crisis, while providing a source for finding information and other services needed from the community.

The objective of Dixie Care and Share is to work in partnership with community organizations to:

A. Provide temporary short-term shelter and transitional housing for people in need.
B. Distribute USDA government commodities according to established guidelines.
C. Distribute donated food to those in need (almost 3M lbs this year).
D. Provide prepared meals for residents of the shelter (with 51 often full beds).
E. Provide information for other resources to those who need additional services.

The Director will be the Chief Operations Officer of Dixie Care and Share. As such he will conduct all required business transactions, be responsible for all day-to-day operations of the Care and Share facilities, and create and manage the budget.

The Director acts as the Human Resources Director for all paid and volunteer personnel and will be ultimately responsible for hiring and discharging all personnel as needed. Currently the Care and Share has 19 full and part time employees in administration, shelter management, food bank, and food pantry operations.

The Director acts as the Development Director, and will be responsible for public relations, operational and capital fund raising; and act as liaison with the State, County and City entities as well as local community and private agencies.

The Director follows the policies and direction of the Board of Trustees and will be diligent in reporting all activities concerning the operation of the Care and Share directly to the Board.

If you are interested in leading one of Southern Utah’s most important charities to fulfill its challenging mission, as well as to become a best-in-class model organization, please send a resume and list of references tojobs@dixiecareandshare.org by May 31, 2010.

Ad2Action Moves Corporate Headquarters at Tonaquint Business Park

Stan Perkins, marketing director for Tonaquint Business Park announced recently that Ad2Action, a software development company, has finalized the relocation of their corporate headquarters to the Tonaquint Business Park.  Since 1998, Ad2Action has been providing turn-key Internet based Point of Sale (POS) Landing Page Campaigns, Marketing, and Process Flow Management Solutions to most major industries and home based businesses.

The AD2ACTION business model empowers businesses with the tools and resources to tap into the explosive Internet Marketing industry. This 154 Billion dollar global market has maintained explosive growth even under the worst economic conditions and is forecast to grow significantly over the years to come.

According to David R. Werner, CEO, “We are thrilled with our relocation to Tonaquint Business Park. Businesses would be amazed if they knew the level of services available at Tonaquint Business Park.”  Ad2Action’s mission is to change the world through innovative Internet marketing products and services that improve the lives of those who use these tools to promote commerce and a better way of life.  “The total tech environment including the availability to a hi-speed Internet access and proximity to a full-service data center makes this a no-brainer move for our company and will help us more completely fulfill our company mission,” stated Werner.


About Tonaquint Business Park

When the Tonaquint Business Park launched in 2002, the vision of the park was seen as the premier ‘hi-tech’ business park in the southern Utah region.  Included in these objectives was the ability to bring broadband technologies and top tier data storage to hi-tech companies and institutions throughout the region.  Companies needing large bandwidth, data storage, and high power density will now have a local alternative to the Salt Lake or Las Vegas markets for this type of facility.

Recent HintonBurdick Hire Earns CPA Designation

Andrew McCracken, recently hired by HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors as a senior accountant assigned to the firm’s St. George office, has passed the CPA examination, qualifying for licensure as a Certified Public Accountant.

According to HintonBurdick Business Services partner Phillip Peine, “achieving a passing score on this highly-competitive examination is a mark of distinction and attests to Andrew’s dedication and exceptional knowledge of accounting practices.”  The exam, created and scored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) serves “to admit individuals into the accounting profession only after they have demonstrated the entry-level knowledge and skills necessary to protect the public interest in a rapidly changing business and financial environment."

Peine went on to say that “one of our goals at HintonBurdick is to qualify our staff members as CPAs as soon as possible in order to provide the highest level of service for our clients.  We currently have 15 other employees in the process of passing the exam.”

McCracken first came to HintonBurdick as an intern while attending Brigham Young University-Idaho, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.   During that time, he says, he came to appreciate the area’s friendly atmosphere, its strong family values, recreational opportunities, year round warm weather, and scenic beauty.  He decided to enroll in the graduate program at Southern Utah University and continue working for HintonBurdick while completing his master’s degree.

As a fulltime HintonBurdick employee, McCracken specializes in taxation and internal control consultation.  He states that he and his wife, the former Kandyce Marie Costley, are proud to call southern Utah their home.

HintonBurdick CPAs & Advisors is a full service CPA firm with 38 CPAs on staff and offices in St. George, Cedar City, Hurricane, and Richfield, Utah, and in Mesquite, Nevada.  They have been in business for more than 30 years and service clients in 47 states and some foreign countries.

University of Phoenix Employee Volunteers for Art

Greg Robinson and his wife Debi vacationed in southern Utah because they loved the red rocks, wide-open spaces and especially, Zion National Park.  Four years ago they made their visits permanent when they moved from Orange County, California.  They now live in Ivins and share their home with their little Westie-mix dog, Rayna Rose.

Greg has a long history of volunteer work.  He was a docent in Southern California at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana.  He wanted to help the community in St. George and his next door neighbor Valerie Sullivan, museum receptionist, gift shop manager and exhibit installer, asked for his help with a large shipment of incoming artwork and thus began his volunteer relationship with the Art Museum.

In the three years since, he has also helped out at the Front Desk but his specialty is rigging the lighting for new shows once the art is installed. His willingness to climb up the tall ladder to adjust the lighting on the second floor is especially appreciated by the Museum staff.  Greg says, “I enjoy setting the lighting for the art because it makes such a difference in how the art appears. Everyone is so appreciative and I enjoy being in the know about what’s next in the St. George art world.”  He is also serving on the Board of Directors of Leadership Dixie and is a member of the Dixie Sunshiners, an ambassador group for the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce.

Greg and his wife both work for the University of Phoenix.  As the Operations Supervisor, Greg assists students, staff and faculty and is involved with community outreach and networking.  The University is very supportive of volunteer efforts, which makes getting involved in the community very accessible.

With all he does it’s hard to believe that Greg has any spare time but when he does he enjoys cooking, hiking, movies, creating stained glass, and swimming.  Museum members, Greg and Debi attend most of the exhibit openings and look forward to the annual Soup ‘N Bowl event in the spring.