I explained that the 990's that I posted previously on the blog, in addition to here:
YSA 990-2008 Line 28 shows $3597 contributed towards agreement
YSA 990-2009 Line 28 shows $30,000 contributed towards agreement
YSA 990-2010 Line 28 shows $10,000 contributed towards agreement
show something totally different. Chip assured me that I could get statements from Jan Klein showing that they have been paid in full. If that is the case, then YSA has bigger problems than they think. According to the IRS Form 990, their accounting is waaay off. And as I said to Chip, "If you think I am tough, wait till you see how tough the IRS is." Chip was polite and respectful. He had paperwork at home showing that everything was paid in full. Hopefully, this can be straightened out. If there is paperwork that shows otherwise, I would be glad to scan it and post it here.
By the way, I got zero feedback from the sports groups concerning the facilities spreadsheet that Charlotte Stephenson, Chuck Bachorski and I created. So much for working together.
show something totally different. Chip assured me that I could get statements from Jan Klein showing that they have been paid in full. If that is the case, then YSA has bigger problems than they think. According to the IRS Form 990, their accounting is waaay off. And as I said to Chip, "If you think I am tough, wait till you see how tough the IRS is." Chip was polite and respectful. He had paperwork at home showing that everything was paid in full. Hopefully, this can be straightened out. If there is paperwork that shows otherwise, I would be glad to scan it and post it here.
By the way, I got zero feedback from the sports groups concerning the facilities spreadsheet that Charlotte Stephenson, Chuck Bachorski and I created. So much for working together.
38 comments:
Was Chip speaking for his 2009 presidency of the YSA where the Form 990-EZ tax return shows that the YSA paid the entire $30,000 due to the MTLSD, or for his Football Association ? Why didn't Chip bring the alleged confirming "paperwork" with him ?
The only other YSA Form 990-EZ years on GuideStar are 2008 & 2010 (2011 has not been filed yet) and both are years where the required payments were far below $30,000, and Chip was neither an officer nor a director of the YSA.
The Mt. Lebanon Football Assoc. is not a 501(c)(3), nor is it any of the other various 501(c) categories; therefore, it seems to be a private entity registered only as a non-profit with the PA Dept. of State, Corporation Bureau. Its' books are not public.
There is then the possibility that some of the field sports groups have been making payments directly to the MTLSD instead of to the YSA. If this is the case, it indicates that either the sports groups do not know how to or can't follow instructions; or, they don't trust the YSA for some reason and refuse to follow procedures. There has been considerable turnover in the YSA "leadership" over the past few years; and, we come to find that the officers & directors consist of only 2-6 individuals in any recent year...6 in 2008, 3 in 2009 and only 2 in 2010, all males. Mrs. Franklin has been named president of the YSA very recently.
So, whats going on here ? Who's on 1st. ? Who pays what to whom, when ?
Bill Lewis
Bill,
Chip said that Jan Klein could give that information. I hope that doesn't require a RTK. He wasn't sure who gets the 990's since he is all about the kids and doesn't get into the financials. I explained that 990s are the forms that are sent to the IRS.
Elaine
Why didn't Chip get that information from Jan Klein before he came to see you, Elaine? Chip is the guy that wants turf. Someone call the state Auditor's hotline.
Susan Frost
I have been on hiatus due to some business commitments, but I have to take time to post this point. Almost every sport sets aside a portion of registration fees for the YSA. If, as alledged, the funds are not being transferred to the intended destination, where does the money go?
Chuck, there isn't a paper trail, unless I follow Chip's advice and go to Jan Klein. If that is the case, I am reposting something from April 13.
"United States Attorney David J. Hickton today announced the activation of a school fraud hotline where citizens can report suspected possible corruption in public education. Potential abuses include misuse of federal funds, spending irregularities, corruption in the contract and bidding process, theft and embezzlement of district funds, and bribery, kickbacks or other forms of illegal collusion with outside vendors.
The phone line — 412-894-7515 — is being maintained by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Citizens may report potential abuses anonymously if they choose. Once potential abuses have been reported, the Office will work with appropriate law enforcement agencies in response to the information."
School Corruption Hotline Activated
Elaine
Where is the amended ordinance?
I don't see any sunset provision in the official version posted online:
http://www.mtlebanon.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/8864
More evidence that Brumfield, Linfante, Fraasch, Bendel, and Weis are keeping residents in the dark and out of the process.
Too bad my commissioner and commission president Brumfield doesn't think I am worthy of his response to my email.
David Huston
Well, if there isn't a paper trail, then what is the proof? There have to be bank records, right? And I would trust Jan Klein about as far as I could throw Dave Brumfield.
Kudos to Chip for stopping by (as awkward as it must have been) and trying to set the record straight.
Elaine, it's not your job to do all the paperwork to figure out if the money has been paid. But you know if you wanted to it would take a RTK request to the SD.
I don't agree with Chip on the turf issue for sure but I am glad he actually made an effort to reach out to someone he knows doesn't agree with him and try to set the record straight.
Albert Brenneman
I believe what is really being said and implied by the comments thus far may be this :
1)unless there is unlikely evidence to the contrary, the YSA has not paid the 3-party Agreement required $30,000 to the MTLSD for at least calendar years 2008 and 2010, evidenced by YSA filings with the IRS. This represents a breach of contract per-se, unless it can be proven that the entire $46,403 in otherwise delinquent payments due were paid directly to the MTLSD by YSA member organizations with the full and verifiable knowledge and approval of all parties to the Agreement;
2) if it cannot be proven that the YSA member organizations did not pay their required amounts to either the YSA or the MTLSD, those member organizations individually and collectively have breached their agreements with the YSA and should not be permitted use of either MTLSD or Muni athletic fields until they satisfy their delinquencies. I believe the YSA has this right of enforcement as it was imposed on the Football Assoc. a few years ago in Footballs dispute with the YSA;
3) if YSA member organizations have in fact collected dues from its member families...at a reported YSA "fee" of $12 per playing person per season or year...but have not forwarded those monies to the YSA of the MTLSD directly, that represents another issue that speaks volumes. A youth sports leader has been quoted by the media in April as estimating "there are 4,000 youth sports registrations in Mt. Lebanon annually";
4) if the MTLSD cannot verify that the YSA and its member organizations have in fact paid the MTLSD $30,000 annually, or whatever was called for, since the 3-party Agreements for that annual amount have been in effect (1999), and if the MTLSD has paid over to the Muni the annual contractural payments, then the MTLSD has used tax monies in lieu of required funding without disclosure or required approvals. I specifically asked the Municipal Manager at the May 8th. Commission meeting during Citizens Comments, perhaps during the time of childish behavior at the back of the room by an errant youth sports leader, whether the Muni had regularly received full annual payments called for in the 3-party Agreements. His answer was "Yes, very definitely".
Therefore, if in even apparent or possible fact that the MTLSD has been using tax dollars to make up for YSA, including member, non-payments, then to me this is adequate grounds for calling the Hotline number.
What say you, bloggers ?
Bill Lewis
Albert,
Chip also called me last week, and we had a long and very pleasant conversation. I've known Chip since he and his siblings were youngsters in the neighborhood.
I truly believe that in his case that it is "for the children". We respect each others opinions, agree on some but we do not agree on all points. I do think highly of the fact that he reached out to a cranky old-timer.
Bill Lewis
I'd say before you call the hotline, do the due diligence to do a RTK with the SD for all receipts from the YSA over the last 3 years.
In the YSA agreement with the SD (I don't have it handy) what are the provisions for the SD in the event of non-payment.
Albert Brenneman
If the YSA monies were paid (and I see no reason not to believe Chip's integrity) perhaps we should also be asking if the SD has delivered upon their contractual requirements?
Jay Neff
Mr. Neff, during the Monday 07-MAY-2012 meeting, Mr. Brumfield acknowledged receipt of all money owed from the school district.
David Huston
I'll assume that your post has a typo Mr. Huston (monies owed "from" the SD) but my question still stands.
Is the SD delivering upon their contractual requirements? Given the current state of the fields, I think it is a fair question to ask.
Jay Neff
Albert,
1) a RTK request to the District will likely entail a max 5-working day delay for a response, which then will advise that an additional 30-working days will be required to research the subject matter, after which there will be a typical final answer that (a) the information is no longer available in the specific form or content requested, and/or (b) there are a variety of alleged & cited legal reasons and cases where the information that might otherwise be available is not available, or, (c) the answer is no, file an appeal (if you dare).
I don't think they'll screw around with the U.S. Attorney's office and their investigative contractors like they do with the public; and,
2) there are no provisions, penalties, anything in the 3-party Agreement. I can't believe you will be surprised at this...it's typical government to government to favored friends "dealmaking" with all manner of outs & loopholes.
Bill Lewis
Bill, which cranky old-timer are you referring to - you or me? LOL
Chip was a gentleman and reached out to me once before when the two youth football coaches were in e news in the fall. We have mutual respect for each other's efforts. At least I do. It isn't about Chip. It isn't about McNeilly, although he was against that too, it is about the YSA being good about their commitment. why are they putting down erroneous information to the IRS?
Steve Feller also confirmed that the District made their annual payments. What it come down to, what is up with YSA?
Elaine
Jay,
According to some of the youth sports groups, the District is not delivering their contractural requirements spelled out in the Agreement. Their comments have been on the blogs and made during public meetings, maybe even in newspaper articles. It's well known.
Have you or other bloggers read the Agreement ? If not, I strongly encourage all of you to do so....it's on the Muni website, under Agenda'a and Minmutes, in the meeting minutes for the Commission meeting held on May 10, 2010, page 3. The Agreement expires next month on June 30, 2012.
Bill Lewis
Let me remind everyone of the meeting minutes that I posted here.
A closer look at fields
I have the link to the meeting minutes that Bill Lewis referred to in the previous comment. Jay, that was not a typo in David Huston's post. The school district is to pay the municipality $83,300 a year for grass turf maintenance. The YSA is supposed to contribute $30,000 a year to the school district. The 990's (sent to the IRS) show that YSA has not fulfilled their obligation. This is why the community is so skeptical of the YSA. With Dan Remely saying there was an $8 million promise in the Master Design Team minutes, the $125,000 pledged for McNeilly and documented on a grant application to the government- which never materialized, the $46,403 that is in question for the YSA agreement, and now the sports groups wondering where the money went if it wasn't given to the district, doesn't give us warm fuzzies. And then we have Dave Franklin's email asking everyone to contact the commissioners and writes: "these sponsorships will allow the municipality and/or the youth sports associations to raise much needed funds for field maintenance and improvements." His statement and antics at the last commission meeting, along with everything else I just listed has left a bad taste in our mouths. Sorry.
Elaine
Franklin and Brumfield don't represent their profession well - or their respective firms.
John Ewing
Why is this so difficult? Did the municipality receive $83,000 for field maintenance from the school district or not in each year of the agreement? There should be a column in the accounting books showing the deposits!
If not someone inept.
If it was paid, the next step is to see the entries over in the school districts books.
This isn't rocket science folks. The district and the municipality can tell you in a matter of minutes if you've paid all due taxes in a matter of minutes. What's that something like 20,000 individual accounts.
But we can't get a handle on 3?
A Resident
A Resident,
There is a book each board member should have detailing all the District accounts. Elaine posted a booklet on this blog showing the numerical codes that decipher each account. If you have the line-by-line Budget Book and the Code Book you can trace each expenditure by building, educational level, utility expenditures and so forth.
The trouble with asking the District for the information is they don’t have to give you the information if it is not in the format you request. Additionally, they can stall for 35 days until they do release the information.
I have no doubt it would be in the Board packet if the Board wanted it but I doubt Ms. Klein would compile it for a resident.
Another problem here is the IRS 990 filings for the years shown show a deficit in the YSA payments. However, the $83,300 number appears in the Municipal Budget. The difficulty with this is the YSA is reporting they didn’t pay their $30,000 share but the Municipal Budget shows the District is paying what the District said they would pay plus the YSA promised payment that the YSA told the IRS they didn’t pay.
Each IRS 990 form has to show who has the books for the YSA. Ask the YSA for the proof they did pay for each of the last 10 years and see if they can prove the payments with a canceled check or a bank statement.
I’m betting on Non-Sufficient Funds.
I’d love to see the checks or bank statements posted on Elaine’s blog.
John Ewing
A Resident,
I agree with you. How about you taking the time and making the effort personally to obtain the necessary information from all the sources.
Bill Lewis
What am I Mr. Lewis, the Auditor General for MTL?
You want me to personally take the time and effort to examine the school district's books. Explain it to me, who works for who here?
Someone on this blog uncovered evidence that money my not have been paid and you want me to uncover whether its true or not. Are you serious? Jan Klein makes around $120,000 a year to manage the district's finance. She works for you, I and everyone in MTL, but you want me to figure this out. Paperwork filed with the IRS suggest it hasn't been paid.... period.
But anyway Mr. Lewis, let say I do as you suggest - look for the necessary info. And lets say I find it.
What happens next? Am I suppose to run an audit. Will I then be require prosecute for non=payment or fraud? I suppose I'll be required to collect any overdue amounts.
If you think its an individuals responsibility to dig for information that I think the SD, the municipality or YSA would find in their best interest to clear up on their own, be my guess.
A Resident
A R
Are you expecting me to do it? I am not working for anyone. Don't I do enough? You want it spoon fed to you? If we left it up to the groups you mentioned, it would have never been an issue. I don't know who the heck you are, but you are starting to p.o. a lot of people here.
Elaine
No Elaine, I'm not suggesting you do it or
Mr. Lewis or any other resident.
You posted IRS paperwork evidence uncovered by someone that suggest the YSA didn't pay their share of a 3 party agreement on field maintenance.
WHAT I"M SUGGESTING is that there are people making good money in the school district and municipality whose job it is to handle the money from the agreement. They work for us, not us for them.
If you ran a business and someone accused you of not paying your bill, wouldn't the first thing you'd ask your book keeper be "show me the check so I can tell this person we paid it."?
A Resident
Here's something you could do, A.R. Call the hotline. You can remain "A. Resident."
"The phone line — 412-894-7515 — is being maintained by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Citizens may report potential abuses anonymously if they choose. Once potential abuses have been reported, the Office will work with appropriate law enforcement agencies in response to the information."
I guess it is an individual's responsibility to monitor these agencies. Don't you? Why would there be a need for hotlines? It takes five minutes. Call the number. State your concerns and that is it. You spend more time here in a day. Do something for the community. Don't sit back and expect me to do it all, okay? Like they say on public television, "make the call."
Elaine
If someone made the claim that I didn't pay a bill, I would get to the bottom of it. But I am not above the law like some believe they are. After everything you have said here about how rules were violated, you expect the same people to care enough to clear their name? You expect Jan Klein to come forward? Do you expect the SB to get involved? They don't respond to emails. They rammed the renovation down our throats. They took the muni to court and lost. OMG. I don't have anything more to say about this right now.
Elaine
I lied. I have one more thing to say. File a Right To Know, R.A.
Elaine
Grrr. A. R., not R.A. Can you tell I am p.o'ed?
Elaine
Elaine I'm not trying to fight with you. You do an amazing job distributing info and managing an open forum.
But, let me ask you-
the SB fired Sable with an expensive payout!
the PTA broke state and their own organization's rules against supporting candidates in an election.
President Posti committed plagiarism.
The commission violated the municipal code.
We have evidence of IRS documents showing field maintenance payments not being made.
And getting this all looked into or cleared up depends on - me - calling a hotline number?
OK, I'll do it. Do I have to get a receipt or something to prove I did? If so that's more than anyone's required of the YSA or Jan on the field maintenance agreement. See ya all, have fun and stay healthy, wealthy and wise.
A Resident
Nope. No receipt is necessary. I just hate when people complain and do nothing. We all have the power to make a difference.
Elaine
A few observations and comments:
1. I E-mailed Ms. Klein and asked her about a half-dozen very pointed questions concerning the YSA, contributions by same, and accounting methods. I don't know Ms. Klein, either personally or professionally, and even though I've attended MLSB meetings I don't think I could pick her out of a lineup. Although I have personal expectations concerning whether I'll get a reply, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt. The Board knows that I am no fan of public education, and that may prejudice Ms. Klein against me; but the members of that august organization also know I've never taken a personal shot at any of them. I do feel that getting some kind of action on this issue requires the owners of the District (and that's all of us residents) to not sit idly by while things progress from bad to worse. I hope others feel the same way. As Stephen Greenhut of Reason Magazine once said, "If you want to change the world, you need to start in your city."
2. Regardless of whether the YSA did or did not make the contributions Mr. Dalesandro adverts, YSA's IRS Forms 990EZ, which are legal documents admissible as evidence in tax court, tell a different story. Since the YSA is a 501(c)(3) entity the public - and, again, that's all of us - has a right to know what kind of accounting, or lack thereof, is being done on YSA's behalf. Perhaps the errant years represent honest mistakes; or perhaps something sinister. But because our Federal tax dollars are subsidizing the "profit" of this entity the public has the right to call the question. I would think YSA executives would be falling all over themselves to try and get this issue resolved!
3. I hate to sound like a broken record (for you youngsters, that was a round, flat piece of vinyl that had music on it), since I've made the following points before, but Ms. Gillen's commendable attempt to give all sides in a debate a forum by permitting anonymous comments accomplishes little of substance. I was under the impression she knew the real names of her pseudonymous correspondents, but her's of 2:34pm on 12 May 2012 is evidence that she does not; or at least does not know all of them. Agree or not agree with them, people such as Mr. Lewis, Mr. Ewing, Mr. Huston, Ms. Stephenson, Mr. Franklin, and a number of others, have the courage to put their names where their convictions lie. Sniping from behind the rock of anonymity is only fit for socialists and the timid - it usually degenerates into nothing more than people lobbing insults at one another; which may be acceptable in a North Korean debate, but is not fitting for a rational debate.
Thank you, R.G. I don't know anybody anymore. I try to give people a chance, but it usually turns to crap.
Elaine
Two things Mr. Gideon.
One you are making an assumption that anonymous post here means the writers are hiding behind rocks. A fair assumption but it is after all an assumption.
One can never be quite sure the level of engagement being employed by an anonymous poster on a blog.
The second based on your writings I would assume you are familiar with The Federalist Papers. I wonder if your hiding behind a rock applies to the authors of that document as well.
Regardless, it appears my comments have agitated Elaine so I will retire from blogging. Not though from being engaged or active in the community. And I have that hotline call to make, I'm betting with all signed contributors tying up the line I'll probably get a busy signal.
FaIr thee well Mt. Lebanon!
A Resident
PS:Here's a little wiki synopsis of crap from over 200 years ago. (pre-blogs)
Federalist No. 10 (Federalist Number 10) is an essay written by James Madison and the tenth of the Federalist Papers, a series arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. It was published on Friday, November 22, 1787, under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all the Federalist Papers were published. The essay is the most famous of the Federalist Papers, along with Federalist No. 51, also by Madison, and is among the most highly regarded of all American political writings.[1]
No. 10 addresses the question of how to guard against "factions", or groups of citizens, with interests contrary to the rights of others or the interests of the whole community. Madison argued that a strong, large republic would be a better guard against those dangers than smaller republics—for instance, the individual states. Opponents of the Constitution offered counterarguments to his position, which were substantially derived from the commentary of Montesquieu on this subject. Federalist No. 10 continues a theme begun in Federalist No. 9; it is titled, "The Same Subject Continued: The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection". The whole series is cited by scholars and jurists as an authoritative interpretation and explication of the meaning of the Constitution. Jurists have frequently read No. 10 to mean that the Founding Fathers did not intend the United States government to be partisan.
A Resident
I knew the Federalist Papers would come up. In fact, I was counting on it. If I had been around then I would have advised "The Federalist Farmer" not to hid behind a rock! Mr. Brackenridge was of the same opinion, so I feel in good company.
How can you be sure Brackenridge was not an anonymous poster?
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mabgenealogy/jmarshel.html
"It would likewise be interesting to know who an anonymous letter referred to in its scathing commentary regarding the society. In a letter to the Pittsburgh Gazette, the letter comments: "that the members of those different societies, wherever they have appeared, have had in view their private interest and popularity and not the public's welfare, that in times of real danger few of them were seen in the field ready to encounter it; that they are national bullies breathing war and confusion, at the same time they have neither bravery nor patience to support themselves under its trials and hardships." While this commentary could refer to any number of people, it fits Marshel well; his motives for supporting the Whiskey Rebellion were questioned by Brackenridge as a political ploy for winning the election, and he does seem to have avoided violent confrontations remarkably, given his position as a colonel of the militia and leader in the rebellion.
At the conclusion of the Whiskey Rebellion, the Democratic Society found itself publicly attacked as one of the primary sources of rebellion. In a letter of defense penned by A. Baird, Vice President, the society stated: "It has been asserted, on the floor of Congress, in order to prove that we have been instrumental in fomenting the late insurrection, that some of our members were leaders in it; we admit that a few of them (not more than seven) in their individual capacity, were too deeply involved, but, suppose there had been twenty, is that any reason that the society should be stigmatized with being fomenters of the rebellion..." (Foner 139)
James Madison, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin is pretty good company too!
A Resident
None of what "A Resident" writes, as interesting as it is, addresses the point of anonymity as it applies to this Blog. I provide my identity and vouchsafe that I am real. "A Resident" does not care to do that. My point was that anonymity on this Blog "..usually degenerates into nothing more than people lobbing insults at one another." That is a fact, as one may see simply by reading this Blog at various times, and remains true, the Founding Fathers notwithstanding.
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