EDMOND, OK-On January 5, 2012, Salome Vaughn of Edmond announced her candidacy for the upcoming vacant Oklahoma County Court Clerk seat. Vaughn is seeking the republican nomination for the election to be held in November.

The seat will be vacated by longtime clerk Patricia Presley. Vaughn served as campaign manager for Presley on two consecutive campaigns. She has held numerous positions within the Oklahoma County Court system including overseeing the development of the Cost Administration Department. This department accounted for and appropriated the fees collected by the court.

If elected, Vaughn plans to overhaul the current online court reporting process making filing and information gathering easier for attorneys and the public alike-greatly reducing the volume of paperwork and the man-hours required to process it. Vaughn is a conservative republican grounded in responsible fiscal management of court fees and strives to lower filing fees for her constituents.

“With my prior experience working for the Cost Administration Department, I feel confident in my abilities to succeed for Oklahoma County”, said Vaughn. “No one will worker harder to improve the Oklahoma County Court than myself.”

In addition to working for the Oklahoma County Court, Vaughn has also served as a paralegal in Oklahoma City for over 20 years. She holds a B.A. in liberal arts from The University of Oklahoma as well as an associate's degree in paralegal studies from Oklahoma Junior College.

“My legal education and work experience has provided me a unique skill set for this position that I feel will be a tremendous advantage to solving some of the problems the Oklahoma County Court is facing,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn is also a strong supporter of the freedom of information act. She plans to create a court clerk office that is user friendly and inviting for constituents seeking court records. With this customer service oriented position, Vaughn also plans to realign the budget contingent on new information technologies that become available.

Currently, Vaughn is the President and CEO of Career Futures-an Edmond based staffing agency geared towards paralegal placement. In addition, Vaughn also owns a land transportation firm operating through a nationwide freight carrier.

Take Advantage of 2 New Tax Breaks for Hiring Previously Unemployed People

April 7, 2010 -- Employers can take advantage of two new tax incentives for hiring and retaining
certain people who haven’t worked in the past 60 days.

The benefits are part of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act. President Obama
signed the HIRE Act into law March 18. Here’s how you can use the incentives when you hire
qualified new employees:

Get a break from the 6.2 percent payroll tax. Under the HIRE Act, businesses are exempt
through year-end from paying their 6.2 percent share of Social Security taxes on qualified
employees’ wages. Here’s the fine print:

     The payroll tax exemption applies to qualified employees hired between Feb. 3, 2010,
and Jan. 1, 2011. It applies to those employees wages from March 19 through Dec. 31, 2010.
The tax incentive is capped at $6,622 per employee (6.2 percent of wages up to the maximum
taxable Social Security wage base of $106,800).

       Newly hired employees must sign affidavits certifying they hadn’t worked for more than 40
hours in the 60-day period ending on the day they start work. The IRS today released the final
version of a sample affidavit, Form W-11, HIRE Act Affidavit.

       Employers claim the exemption when they file their quarterly Form 941, Employer’s
Quarterly Federal Tax Return. Employers can begin to claim the exemption on the Form 941
filed for the second quarter of 2010. The IRS has issued a draft revised Form 941 to reflect the
new payroll tax incentive.

       The employee continues to pay his or her 6.2 percent share of the Social Security tax, and
both employers and employees pay the 1.45 percent Medicare tax on all wages.

       Other restrictions apply. For example, new employees mustn’t be related to the employer.
Also, the employer must certify that the new hire isn’t replacing another employee unless that
employee separated voluntarily or for cause.
Check the IRS's HIRE Act: Questions & Answers for Employers for details.

Get up to $1,000 for retaining those employees. If an employer continues to employ one of the
above-described people for at least 52 consecutive weeks, the business also can receive an
employee retention credit of up to $1,000.
Businesses claim the credit on their 2011 tax returns. The credit is worth $1,000 or 6.2 percent
of an employee’s wages over 52 weeks, whichever is lower.
The employee retention credit follows the rules that apply to all general business credits under
Section 38 of the Internal Revenue Code. The only exception is that any excess business credit
resulting from the employee retention credit can’t be carried back. It can, however, be carried
forward.

Note: Employers who claim the Work Opportunity Tax Credit when they hire certain employees
from disadvantaged groups can claim either the HIRE provisions or the WOTC, but not both.
Individual companies should compare the tax benefits associated with the WOTC (which offers
a maximum annual benefit of $2,400 per worker) and the two HIRE provisions, to determine
which provides the better tax benefit.