Marv Worthen stood in the lobby of the Sun City Taxpayers Association's new location Monday morning, watching as a dozen people set up furniture and cleared office space.

"Well, we said we'd be open for business this morning," Worthen said, chuckling as he spoke over the noise. "And I guess technically we are. We still have some work to do before we're settled in, though."

The SCTA moved to a new location in November, and an open house marking the move will be Dec. 12. The new facility will feature new services, including an attorney who will offer legal advice and a financial adviser. The new address is 10195 W. Coggins Drive. The phone number is 623-933-7530.

"We have a financial guy with all kinds of letters after his name. He'll be coming in once a week," said Worthen, the president of SCTA. "The point is to be there to help, especially when the spouse who took care of the bills passes away. The widow is thinking, ‘What do I do now?' We'll be here to help."

Worthen said the new location will be an improvement in several ways, most obvious of which is sheer size.

"The old place we were paying $1,200 a month, and here we're paying $1,300," he said. "This place is twice as big. So we doubled our space for $100 a month."

That added breathing room, Worthen said, means the SCTA no longer has to require reservations.

"We had to do that before, just because we didn't have any room," he said. "Now, we have a nice area where people can sit and wait to be helped, and they won't have to make a reservation to see us. They can just stop by."

The open house, which will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 12, will feature free benefits checkups, AARP tax aid and representatives from the Sun City Fire Department, who will discuss fire safety during the holidays. Membership sign-up sheets will be available, as well.

"Our goal is to double our membership," Worthen said. "We are not going to increase our fees because we don't think this is the year to do it. The economy is too bad. But that means we need more members."

Worthen said the SCTA is encouraging members to sign up at least one friend, a move he said will make a big difference.

"Everything we offer is free, but it isn't free for us to run it," he said. "We rely on donations and membership fees. We can't control donations, but we can push for more members."

Jeff Dempsey may be reached at 623-876-2531 or jdempsey@yourwestvalley.com.