This tax season, the first since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect, is raising the learning curve for both taxpayers and tax preparers, Spokane accountants say.

During the past five years, Spokane-based nonprofit Partners with Families & Children has more than tripled its budget and more than doubled its staff, CEO Carol Plischke says.

A panic spread through nonprofits in the Inland Northwest and elsewhere last year after federal tax changes were enacted. The concern: charitable giving would decrease and hamper the organizations' budgets.

Spokane's Richard Pisani has created a fabric garment of sorts to block sports ticker scores for his wife, Theresa, who complained about game-score spoilers.

The YMCA of the Inland Northwest's annual budget has crested $20 million this year, thanks in large part to the addition of new facilities on Spokane's South Hill and in Sandpoint.

A big surge in new construction last year left the Spokane County Assessor's Office feeling alarmingly under water in its efforts to process a huge backlog of projects so they could be added to the county's property tax rolls.

Meg Winchester has joined Visit Spokane, the region's convention and visitor bureau, on a high note. As the organization's new president and CEO, her job will be to carry that tune into the following years.