Details of the Dues Increase
At the National PTA Convention, held this past June in Orlando, delegates approved a fifty-cent ($0.50) per-member increase to National PTA’s portion of dues, from $1.75 to $2.25 per member. This increase became effective on July 1, 2011. California State PTA’s dues portion remains at $1.25 per member, and 17th District PTA’s dues portion remains at $0.50 per member.

All PTA units will now need to submit to 17th District $4.00 per member in per capita dues (or fifty cents more than in prior years), plus any council dues that may specifically apply to in-council units. 17th District’s remittance forms have not yet been updated to reflect this change, but they will be within the month.

How the Change Will Apply to Units
PTA units can choose to submit the additional $0.50 per member without increasing your member dues at all (thus reducing your unit’s retained portion by fifty cents), or by passing the increase onto your members by increasing your members’ dues by $0.50.

If you decide to pass the $0.50 increase onto your members, the executive board will need to vote to do so. It is also recommended that you consult with your membership before making this decision.

How Your Bylaws are Affected
ALL UNITS will need to manually write this dues increase into your bylaws: Article IV, Section 4(a) needs to be updated by striking “one dollar and seventy-five cents ($1.75)” and replacing it with “two dollars and twenty-five cents ($2.25).” This change is automatically effective and cannot be rescinded by any vote of your board or membership.

If your executive board votes to pass the $0.50 increase onto your members, the rest of Article IV, Section 4 should be updated to reflect your unit’s new membership dues. California State PTA has stated that they will not require units to submit their bylaws up through channels for approval prior to enacting a fifty-cent increase in membership dues to offset the increased dues.

Please note that the submission exemption only applies to an increase in your unit’s dues for this specific situation. Any other proposed increase in your unit’s dues will still need to go through the standard bylaws submittal process.

Questions?
If you have any further questions about this dues increase, please contact Susan Bell, 17th District President.

There some new tax filing requirements going into effect for the 2010 tax year that all unit treasurers need to be aware of! For example, the 990N limit for your PTA’s gross receipts has been increased to $50,000. The filing requirements are now:

• If your gross receipts are normally equal to or less than $50,000, file the 990N
• If your gross receipts are normally equal to or between $50,000-$200,000 and your total assets are below $500,000, file the 990EZ
• If your gross receipts are normally over $200,000 or total assets are over $500,000, file the 990

Starting with the 2010 tax year, the California State Franchise Tax Board is requiring all tax-exempt organizations to file the electronic Form 199N or Form 199. In the past, PTA units and councils were not required to file a Form 199 if they were unincorporated. Based on this new reporting requirement, all units, councils and districts must now file the Form 199. Returns are due the 15th day of the fifth month after the fiscal year-end.
The Franchise Tax Board recently started issuing state entity identification numbers for all PTAs in California. These are not the same as the Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) that the federal IRS already assigns every PTA.

Finally, the State Attorney General’s Office has announced a new requirement that all unincorporated units must register with the Attorney General’s Office, Registry of Charitable Trusts, and must start filing the RRF-1 form annually, beginning no later than 2012.
If you are planning a raffle or gaming activity, you must obtain a charitable trust number before you can apply for your raffle or gaming certificate.

Additional information about these requirements is available on the State PTA website.

• $202.00 for each unit,
• $120.00 for each council.

Be sure to include your PTA unit (or council) name, address, contact person’s name with phone number and email address with your payment.

Units that are “out-of-council” should send all payments to Susan Bell, Financial Secretary (contact her or view the latest Seventeena to find the address to mail to. DO NOT SEND PAYMENTS TO CALIFORNIA STATE PTA.
Units that are “in-council” should send in their insurance premium payments to their council treasurer in December, so councils can forward the payments to 17th District PTA by the Jan. 15, 2010 due date.
(Am I in- or out-of-council?)

Any payment received from councils or out-of-council units that is postmarked after January 15, 2010 (postmarked) will incur a $25.00 late fee. Please submit the payment along with a remittance form.

Also due to Seventeenth District will be the Workers Compensation Form [PDF]. This form is due to your council treasurer, if “in-council,” in December.

All “out-of-council” units should send the form to Susan Bell, Financial Secretary by January 15, 2010 (postmarked).

If no one was employed or paid (even babysitters!) by your PTA in 2009, then fill in “NO ONE PAID” on the Workers Compensation form. If payments made to ALL employees totaled $1,000.00 or more, then your PTA will need to pay 5% of the amount over $1,000.00 to Seventeenth District PTA.

DO NOT MAIL THE FORM TO CALIFORNIA STATE PTA, even though their address is on the top of the form!

If you have any questions, please contact Susan Bell, Financial Secretary.

Susan Bell, Financial Secretary
17th District PTA
c/o San Mateo County of Education,
101 Twin Dolphin Drive,
Redwood City CA 94065-1064.

AUDITS

End of year audits are due NOW!  NOTE:  State PTA allows you to send in your audit before it is adopted by your PTA.

PTA units that are part of councils must send their audit to their council.  The council will forward the audit to the 17th District PTA.

PTA units that are not part of councils must send their audits directly to the 17th District:

17th District PTA Auditor, Myra Gruschka,
c/o San Mateo County Office of Education,
101 Twin Dolphin Drive,
Redwood City, CA 94065-1064

When submitting your audit, please include the audit report form, the audit checklist and a copy of the last bank statement of the audit period.

PTA Councils: Your council audit is also due.  Forward your audit along with the unit audits to:

17th District PTA Auditor, Myra Gruschka,
c/o San Mateo County Office of Education,
101 Twin Dolphin Drive,
Redwood City, CA 94065-1064

If you have any questions, please contact Myra Gruschka, Auditor.

TAX FILING

All PTAs, units and councils must file a version of IRS form 990 for the past tax year (2008) by November 15 this year.  Send copy of your filing (or receipt, if filing 990N) to your council or district financial officer.  Observe the IRS deadline, even if only to file for an extension.  Your non-profit status depends upon fulfilling this requirement.

If you have any questions, please contact Helen Geimer, Treasurer or Susan Bell, Financial Secretary.

Resources for parents, volunteers available
Editor,
As a volunteer for the California State PTA (California Congress of Parents, Teachers and Students, Inc.), I am always dismayed to read about theft of money that was intended to benefit children (“Parent association head takes embezzlement plea” in the July 30 edition of the Daily Journal).
The California State PTA offers training to prevent theft and insurance to cover losses when theft occurs. However, not all parent associations are part of the PTA. Many readers may not realize that the Fair Oaks Parent Association, which was impacted by the theft, is not part of the state PTA. Public trust is important to us. Our purpose is to promote the well-being of all children and families. We also work to educate PTA officers in comprehensive financial procedures that are required for nonprofit organizations, help prevent losses and protect honest and hardworking volunteers from false accusations. I hope all families in schools in San Mateo County recognize the benefits and become a part of the California State PTA. The 17th District PTA office is located at the San Mateo County Board of Education. Our contact information is on our Web site www.17thdistrictpta.org.
Colette Rudd
San Mateo

On a related note, if your PTA is in need of assistance or guidance dealing with issues, financial or other, please take advantage of the resources that 17th District PTA can make available to you. Contact Colette Rudd (17th District President) and Pam Selli (17th District Vice President of Leadership) for assistance.

If you are interested in forming a new PTA within San Mateo County, you should also contact Colette Rudd and Pam Selli using the links above, who will be able to guide you through the process.

2009 Insurance Premiums for Units: $190

General liability $80; Directors & Officers $40; Bonding $56; Workers Comp. $14* = $190.00
*If your total payroll for individuals that your unit hires exceeds $1000, then you may have to pay an additional premium for workers compensation insurance. The Workers Compensation Report form [PDF] can determine how much this premium will be.

All units MUST submit a Workers Compensation Report form [PDF] along with your insurance payment, even if your unit did not pay anyone. (If no one was paid, write “NO ONE PAID” across the form.)

In-Council Units: Submit your insurance payment & workers comp. form to your council. Contact them to determine their due date; it will likely be in mid-December.
Out-of-Council Units: Submit your insurance payment, with a remittance form (download PDF or download MS Word) and your workers comp. form directly to 17th District by Dec. 31, 2008. The address to send the payment to is located on the remittance form.
A $25 late fee will be charged for insurance payments postmarked after the deadline.

2009 Insurance Premiums for Councils: $110

Directors & Officers $40; Bonding $56; Workers Comp. $14* = $110.00
*If your total payroll for individuals that your council hires exceeds $1000, then you may have to pay an additional premium for workers compensation insurance. The Workers Compensation Report form [PDF] can determine how much this premium will be.

All councils MUST submit a Workers Compensation Report form [PDF] along with your insurance payment, even if your council did not pay anyone. (If no one was paid, write “NO ONE PAID” across the form.)

Submit your council’s insurance payment and workers comp. form, plus the payments and forms your council has received from your units to 17th District by Dec. 31, 2008. Use the council remittance form (download PDF or download MS Word) to submit your payment and itemize the payments that you forward from your units.
A $25 late fee will be charged for insurance payments postmarked after the deadline.

Questions? Contact Myra Gruschka, 17th District Financial Secretary.

Please remember that your membership drives don’t end in the fall, but continue year-round! Continue to submit per capita for all of your members as you receive them on a monthly basis until March 2009. (Because PTA’s membership year ends on March 31, 2009, any per capita received after March will count to the 2009-10 school year.)

Also, please make sure that all of your members receive membership cards! Every person who joins your unit should receive their membership card so that they can be entitled to the numerous member benefits that are a part of joining PTA. Members also must have a current membership card to apply for PTA grants and scholarships and to attend the California State PTA Convention in April/May. You can download the template for printing membership cards [MS Word], and you can obtain more membership cards by contacting John Sanna, 17th District Membership Chair.

PTAs with Gross Receipts normally $25,000 or less and PTAs with average gross receipts less than $25,000 over the last three (3) years file a 990N. (This is a major benefit if a PTA has been filing a 990 because sometime in the past it was required to file a 990, but in the last few years revenues have significantly changed.) The 990N return is filed online at www.IRS.gov/charities.

PTAs with Gross Receipts over $25,000 and less than $100,000 and with assets less than $250,000 file a 990EZ.

PTAs with Gross Receipts over $100,000 and/or with assets of more than $250,000 file an IRS 990.

Most unit and council PTAs will not need to file a California 190 or an IRS 990T, unless they are separately incorporated. However, if the PTA has unrelated income in excess of $1000, these forms are required.

Sale of advertising (not recommended) is unrelated business income. Sponsorship income is related income and not unrelated business income.

There are exceptions to unrelated business income.

Schedule B must be completed if the PTA receives a donation of $5,000 or more from a single donor.

CONSULT YOUR TAX PROFESSIONAL!!!

THE CALIFORNIA STATE PTA STRONGLY RECOMMENDS THE PTA USE A TAX PROFESSIONAL WITH NONPROFIT EXPERIENCE TO FILE THE 990 OR 990EZ.

The due date for all of these forms is the 15th day of the fifth month after the fiscal year end.
For example, a PTA with a fiscal year end of June 30 must file these forms by November 15th. Extensions of time to file are available if properly requested using IRS Form 8868.

If you have further questions, contact Doug Pickford, California State PTA Treasurer or Susan Bell, 17th District PTA Treasurer.