"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Saturday 14 April 2012

A Fresh Start Is Needed

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Blogging Business":
"...it is an independent business that seeks financing from the Town..
 Perhaps it is a not-for-profit company but it is not a registered charity.

"Tim, Tim, Tim ... in a word: Wrong!

The Cultural Centre is an incorporated non-profit with the ability to issue charitable donation tax receipts (from their website: "the Centre, a Registered Non-profit Charity").

You're Welcome, Tim.

*****************

The essence  of this argument contains the crux of my reservations about Council's ability to make the  governing body  of Church Street School publicly accountable.

The Board is a hybrid. It is six of one and nothing of the other. 

The original plan was for an arm's length body to manage the facility without political interference and the ability to solicit donations in return for tax receipts.

Seed money was required to begin . It was to be reduced by a fixed amount annually until the  board became self-sufficient.

I was doubtful.  But I had no experience to base my arguments.

A  municipality cannot issue tax receipts for gifts. Donations  are a critical aspect of operating  an arts centre independently of tax support.

A corporation is  required to have articles of incorporation.

I suspect the devil  is  in the details of the articles of incorporation
when it comes to changes in the composition of the board. 

I think  governance  has to be all political  or no political representation. .  

Political  management  would  certainly frustrate the objective of  having a self-sustaining operation, independent of tax support.

Let's say user fees are based on cost of operation, including  rent or amortisation for the facility, cost of maintenance, staffing, paying performers  and program promotions.

If people with friends in the right places can approach  the political body,as we have seen recently, and request  the facility at no cost, that would completely undermine the objective of  financial self-sufficiency.

Unless of course  other users had to pay higher fees to cover the cost of letting the bums have it  free

The demand  by the  commercial concert promotion outfit aka St Kitts Jazz  Festival , under the guise of a not for profit corporation,is a classic example of how politics  interferes with the broad and committed objective of treating people equally.

They got money from a  previous council.  Even this year, after  earnings of at least $150,000 last year,  four Councillors were prepared to provide a free venue  once again for them to rake in the schekels.

An arm's length independent board could theoretically solicit donations and provide  tax receipts to pay for events as well as keep admission rates reasonable for the  greater number to enjoy.

It's a  theory.

The problem with the Church Street School situation is, there is no
requirement to become self-sufficient any  time soon. We increase  funds provided every year instead of reducing them.

We provide a facility in which we have substantial financial investment  for a rent of $1.00 a year.

We pay for all maintenance and utilities.

We see no end to the drain on town resources.

To add insult to injury, the purpose of our investment in the building in the first place,  the  town's museum, was rudely and autocratically excluded from the facility by a bunch of pirates.

It was a Faustian Bargain the town made when we had a rogue council and a facile administration.

This experience with an  arm's length independent body intended to be self-sufficient does give me confidence in the model.

I think we should take the building back, cut off the funding  and start afresh.

9 comments:

Angus said...

"Tim, Tim, Tim ... in a word: Wrong!

The Cultural Centre is an incorporated non-profit with the ability to issue charitable donation tax receipts (from their website: "the Centre, a Registered Non-profit Charity").
You're Welcome, Tim.


The Cultural Centre's website says it is a Registered Non-Profit Charity. The above poster says this means they can issue charitable donation tax receipts. To issue tax receipts a charity must be registered with Revenue Canada. The financial statements and tax filings of all charitable organizations are available on the Revenue Canada website. There is no listing for the Aurora Cultural Centre on Revenue Canada website. They can be a non-profit charity witout the ability to issue tax receipts.
Angus..

Angus said...

"Tim, Tim, Tim ... in a word: Wrong!

The Cultural Centre is an incorporated non-profit with the ability to issue charitable donation tax receipts (from their website: "the Centre, a Registered Non-profit Charity").
You're Welcome, Tim.


The Cultural Centre's website says it is a Registered Non-Profit Charity. The above poster says this means they can issue charitable donation tax receipts. To issue tax receipts a charity must be registered with Revenue Canada. The financial statements and tax filings of all charitable organizations are available on the Revenue Canada website. There is no listing for the Aurora Cultural Centre on Revenue Canada website. They can be a non-profit charity witout the ability to issue tax receipts.
Angus..

Angus said...

"Tim, Tim, Tim ... in a word: Wrong!

The Cultural Centre is an incorporated non-profit with the ability to issue charitable donation tax receipts (from their website: "the Centre, a Registered Non-profit Charity").
You're Welcome, Tim.


The Cultural Centre's website says it is a Registered Non-Profit Charity. The above poster says this means they can issue charitable donation tax receipts. To issue tax receipts a charity must be registered with Revenue Canada. The financial statements and tax filings of all charitable organizations are available on the Revenue Canada website. There is no listing for the Aurora Cultural Centre on Revenue Canada website. They can be a non-profit charity witout the ability to issue tax receipts.
Angus..

Anonymous said...

That simply does not compute. Aurora cannot give money to the Food Pantry because it is a charity but we can give money to the Culture Vultures who are a charity ? Has to be the same for every group especially the big greedy ones.

Anonymous said...

Angus, are you related to Cllr Buck?

Tim the Enchanter said...

Well, criticism should be nothing if not factually correct so in that respect I pronounce ‘mea culpa’ regarding the charitable status of the cultural centre.

However,it must be said that I was led astray by two points on the ACC website.

The ACC is self-described as a “Registered Non-Profit Charity” but strictly speaking there is no such animal.
According to the Canada Revenue Agency, there are “Registered Charities” and “Non-Profit Organizations”, to which different rules apply.

Since the Aurora Cultural Centre does not appear on the Canada Revenue listing of registered charities I concluded it wasn’t one.

It also doesn’t appear on the Canada Helps website under that name, a popular website for making on-line donations to the registered charity of one’s choice.

It turns out, and I’m not sure exactly why, that deeper digging is required to discover that the ACC is registered as the Church Street School Cultural Centre.

Search that name on the CRA website http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/menu-eng.html
and you will see the information.

I found the most recent available financial report of 2010 to make interesting reading – perhaps others will as well.

That aside, the fact remains that the cultural centre represents a large financial commitment by the taxpayers.

We own the venue.
We have contracted “culture” out to the ACC.

Registered charity or not, I expect council to protect the taxpayers substantial investment in this venture.

How do we measure the value of such a program?
Are we getting value for money?

Anonymous said...

"To issue tax receipts a charity must be registered with Revenue Canada. The financial statements and tax filings of all charitable organizations are available on the Revenue Canada website. There is no listing for the Aurora Cultural Centre on Revenue Canada website." (<-- Wrong!)

Here you go, Angus. From the CRA website:

Church Street School Cultural Centre

BN/Registration Number: 808239693RR0001
Charity Status: Registered
Effective Date of Status: 2009-08-05

(I'll just post it once. There's no need to keep repeating ourselves)

Anonymous said...

So where does all this leave us?

Can the Town of Aurora claim its cash payments and its in kind contributions as deductions when it goes to assess the taxpayers?

Now let the wizards fly and try and figure out an answer to this.

This is all getting very repetitive and boring. It's Saturday night. Isn't there anything better to do with our lives than this by now stale and stinking canard?

Anonymous said...

So where does all this leave us?

Can the Town of Aurora claim its cash payments and its in kind contributions as deductions when it goes to assess the taxpayers?

Now let the wizards fly and try and figure out an answer to this.

This is all getting very repetitive and boring. It's Saturday night. Isn't there anything better to do with our lives than this by now stale and stinking canard?