Why Even Bother With The Invercargill City Charitable Trust?

As usual I’ve spun off on a tangent.  I began looking for more information for my Venture Southland submission when I got sidetracked with grants received by Invercargill City Council.  ICC kept coming up when looking at funding as well as Invercargill City Charitable Trust.  Why are Venture Southland popping up too?  VS have a charitable trust (I’ve only found on Community Trust of Southland’s register of interests).

Here are just a few examples of the funding the various groups have received:

I don’t understand how  Council’s are eligible and if they are then why do they have a charitable trust?  Why not just get it all through a council funding request.  I think it’s circumventing legislation, in particular the meeting requirements of LGOIMA.  I don’t think many Crs realise we can still request minutes and the like through LGOIMA because they are appointed from council therefore ICC are deemed as holding the information (that the Crs have).  So I can get the information but I can’t attend or even know when the charitable trusts are having meetings.  If I’m right, that means they are actively opposing openness and transparency.

And I won’t accept the reason that it’s to do ‘things’ that are not the responsibility of council.  This from the ICCT financial notes:

How do you claim something isn’t yours and in the same breath delegate it to someone?  I think this is why council controlled organisations have to be declared.

 

 

What A Joke

Either they can’t organise a piss up in a brewery or just don’t give a shit.  Finally Bluff Medical Centre has fulfilled it’s responsibilities and it seems it was worse than I thought.  It seems three trustees had passed away and trustees were appointed as far back as May 2010.  No rush, eh, whenever you’re ready…

Flagrant disregard for legislation.

Given that you have 3 months to notify Charities Commission under the Charities Act 2005 and they have finally done it nearly two years later is a level of incompetence that I can’t even fathom.

Ah, Sunlight

I mentioned a while back that some charities weren’t up to date in their responsibilities.  They were:

Bluff / Greenhills Co-operating Parish    31/12/2011
Bluff Volunteer Fire Brigade     31/12/2011
The Bluff Community Medical Trust     30/09/2011
Te Runaka O Awarua Charitable Trust    31/12/2011
The Stirling Point Signal Station Preservation Trust    31/12/2011

Nice to see most have caught up.  The only remaining defaulter is

The Bluff Community Medical Trust

Their finances were due 30 September 2011 for year ended 30 March 2011 and two trustees have passed away and not been removed as trustees within the required three month period.

Foveaux Strait Memorial

I have done a disservice to Lindsay Abbott, Leon and cohorts for their valiant efforts.  Lindsay’s facebook shows fundraising is over $7800 for a  memorial at Stirling Point to honour the lives lost in the Strait.  I’ve it said before that I don’t think the point is the right place but that aside they have shown they have a committed following.  I’m a bit of a heartless bitch so memorials and the like aren’t important to me but I know they are to many.

I hope when they do prepare plans that they consider other locations that provide a more tranquil uncluttered place where people can reflect and ponder.  Someone said to me today that putting it at the point is like putting all your furniture in one room and it does seem like a lot is already ‘going on’ around there.

As Lindsay points out they are aiming for $10k and if each of the ‘followers’ gave $1 they will have achieved that goal (and no doubt the goal posts will then be moved…lol:-)

Meanwhile here is the facebook page and donations can be made to 060925 0475956 01.

Another Financial Year Is Coming To An End

But as of today will still have many Bluff charities that haven’t filed their paperwork with Charities on time from last year.  They are very fortunate that Charities Commission a not very good at their job either.  If they were an incorporated society, overseen by societies.govt.nz they would have been struck off by now.

Finances are due six months after the organisations year end.  Here are the current defaulters and that date their paperwork was due

Bluff / Greenhills Co-operating Parish    31/12/2011
Bluff Volunteer Fire Brigade     31/12/2011
The Bluff Community Medical Trust     30/09/2011
Te Runaka O Awarua Charitable Trust    31/12/2011
The Stirling Point Signal Station Preservation Trust    31/12/2011

In addition, notices of change must be filed within three months.  Delays in doing so means Charities Commission may charge a penalty fee and repeated non-compliance can result in de-registration.

The Stirling Point Signal Station Preservation Trust lists a trustee who passed away over six months ago and The Bluff Community Medical Trust lists the same person as a trustee and one that passed away 18 months ago.

Very lucky that Charities are failing in their responsibilities but aren’t those organisations too?

I Had No Idea

It seems, when creating my community groups list, I didn’t think outside of the box enough.  I used Charities and Societies by searching BLUFF in the name field. Whereas I just did a search on Charities using the location as ‘Bluff’ and the beneficiaries as ‘General Public’.  I came across Ka Mate Nga Kiore Inc which received funding from Oikonos.  Needless to say I looked that up and came across this project regarding Titi, New Zealand, California and even a 1998 oil spill…who knew…I didn’t.

The charity has Morrie Trow, Robert Coote and Penelope Hutchins as the trustees and a Pilcher Ave address.  You learn something new every day!  Well at least I did today…

Needless to say (but I will), I’ll have to do some more research and update the list and maybe finally get around to putting it on the Notices page.

Food For Thought

Here’s a snippet from Transition Town’s blog which I feel is worth considering in light of our upcoming Urban Renewal or Community Development.

Investment as the enabler and motivator In the world of dollar economics, it is well understood that development requires investment. Consider how a new dollar-based enterprise is typically launched. First a business plan is developed, showing how the enterprise can operate profitably, and identifying what funding will be needed to get the business off the ground. Then a funding source is sought – either an investor or a bank – who then funds the startup in return either for equity in the new enterprise, or else a commitment by the enterprise to repay the funding with interest out of its operations.

It makes sense to view community development as a start-up venture. Instead of a business plan for a company, we need a development plan for the community. And instead of profit-maximizing investors, we need local sponsors who see themselves as partners with the community, and who are willing to forego profit and wait until the community is thriving before their funding is repaid.

With a sound development plan, a flexible local exchange system, and sufficient sponsorship, it becomes possible to pursue community development in a systematic way. And when there’s money on the table, we can expect people to wake up and get interested. If real projects are being proposed, that will effect everyone, and if people are invited to help decide how the money

What, I believe, should also be considered when reading that piece is that we have a trust in our name, listing the Bluff community as the beneficiary, that lists it’s primary focus as ‘community development’ and a building that would serve as a base for a united community to further it’s many and varied projects.  Now more than ever the appointed regime needs to end.

The Irony

After I finally made comment about the medical centre, I received this today.  Underlining mine just because it was my views prior to receiving this email.  I wouldn’t give to a organisation that can’t handle the basics and the tax implications of de-registration could be significant.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE CHARITIES COMMISSION

From the date of this email, we will no longer accept incomplete Annual Returns

 Much of the research looking into what drives public trust and confidence in charities, and donor’s giving behaviour, shows that the public expect charities to be open, transparent and accountable.

 And that starts with the very basics, such as ensuring complete Annual Returns and financial statements are filed with the Charities Commission on time, as required by the Charities Act.  For this reason, the Commission will now no longer accept incomplete or incorrect Annual Returns.

 From the date of this email, we will no longer accept incomplete Annual Returns or publish them on your charity’s summary page on the Charities Register. 

 A “complete” Annual Return consists of:

• an Annual Return form (Form 4), with all applicable questions completed, including Question 25 (essential) and
• a copy of your charity’s financial statements.

 If either of these is not filed within six months of your financial year-end, your charity’s online record, viewable on the public Charities Register, will show the Annual Return as missing.  That could potentially affect public perceptions of your charity, and possibly damage public confidence in its ability to work effectively.

 If the Commission receives an incomplete Annual Return, we will do our best to contact the charity to ask for the missing information.  This includes charities whose Form 4 simply says “see accompanying financials” in response to Question 25 in Form 4 – this response doesn’t meet the requirements of the legislation. 

 “Incomplete” also includes Returns that don’t include financial statements for a full financial year, or that are for the wrong financial year, or that belong to a (non-registered) related organisation.  We have found, for example, that some charities have filed accounts for the larger non-charitable “parent” entity to which they belong,  instead of their own – charitable – accounts.

 If we don’t receive any reply or the missing/correct information within a reasonable time, the charity will be deregistered – and will no longer be able to access all the benefits of registration, including tax exemption.  Donee status (granted by Inland Revenue) may also be revoked, which means that donors can no longer claim tax credits on their donations.

 We encourage you to file complete, correct Annual Returns, as the legislation requires, and to file them on time (within six months of your balance date). 

 Helpful tip:  the date on which your charity’s Annual Return is due is shown on your charity’s summary page on the Charities Register.

 By filing a complete Annual Return and meeting all your other obligations, you can comply with the law’s requirements to remain registered, contribute to public trust and confidence in the charitable sector,  and remain eligible for the tax and other benefits of charitable status.

 If you need help completing your Annual Return, please make use of the Annual Returns help on our website, including our Annual Return checklist and Annual Return financial information help notes

 Most people tell us that filing their Annual Return is relatively straightforward (especially if they file it by logging in and completing it online). 

 We look forward to receiving your next Annual Return by its due date,  completed as required.

 Kind regards

The team at the Charities Commission