Anonymous said...
New Article Submission, s'il vous plait.
The AGO's office sent a letter to the Chief dated April 7, 2008, advising him that
"any non-profit, charitable organization that: - Has been determined by the IRS to be a 501(c)(3) organization; and/or - Solicits donations in the State of New Hampshire or distributes funds to the community for charitable purposes; and/or - Is formed for any of the purposes enumerated in RSA 7:21, II - is required to register with and report to the Attorney General, Charitable Trusts Unit."
The Chief's response dated April 15, 2008 is as follows:
"...After investigating my situation I believe that I do not fall under the restrictions of IRS 501(c)(3). I would like to explain my reasoning.
I am not the proprietor of any funds that are sent to the Police Department. All funds received are deposited into the town of Atkinson's accounting ledgers. I do not have access to these funds. These funds can only be disbursed by approval of the governing body, the three member's of the board of selectmen.
The town presently has a Federal IRS number as a no profit organization and thus I feel that there is no need for me to duplicate what is already in place. These funds are audited by Mason & Rich Professional Association, Certified Public Accountants located in Concord, N.H. On Monday April 14th, we contacted this accounting firm and again asked their input on changing the way any donations are sent to the town. They advised that the way the donations are handled falls under the towns Federal IRS number. He stated that the Police Chief does not have direct access to the funds, for the board of selectment are the directors and care takers and these funds can only be dispersed with written authorization by the three members of the board of selectmen. The procedure of accepting and dispersing of these funds has been in place for over fifteen years.
If you should require any additional information pertaining to the reasoning why I believe the police department is not required to file as a non-profit organization, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely; Philip V. Consentino"
The AGO followed up with a nice letter dated Juy 18, 2008 stating:
"I have reviewed the letter you sent to me in April. I have also reviewed the fundraising activities and oversight of the funds with Sandra at the Town Office.
Because the funds are raised through public solicitation and are used for charitable purposes, it is required that a charitable trust be formed and registered with this office. It is considered to be a public charity. The Town cannot hold charitable funds unless all activity and funds are held and reported through the Trustees of the Trust Funds report. I have confirmed with Sandra that this is not being done in this manner. Sandra did confirm that the funds are held in a separate account, expenditures must be approved by the Board of Selectmen, and you do not personaly have possession of the funds or a checkbook."
Well, ok then, it's Q&A time.
1) What is Mason & Rich's phone number? Someone call them and explain the law to them.
2) The original letter from the AGO mentioned soliciation but the Chief does not address this issue in his response, and he gets bagged.
3) The Chief states that ALL expeditures are aproved IN WRITING by THREE members of the BOS. Can you say RTK request?
4) Has anyone out there ever heard him request money for the "life is not done yet" trips for seniors? or the dinners where certain political candidates are invited, while others are excluded? Can you say electioneering?
5) What about the 5 funds outlined in the Town Report? The AGO knows about these :) but the Chief only talks about one account.
6) All activity and expeditures are reportable!! I like this one the most. Who's the Trustee of the Trust Fund anyway....I hope you are well rested.
7)All of the towns other non-profit orgs are registered (that we know of). Why does the town allow the PD to do this?
8) The Chief states that he does not have direct access to the funds. What about the big can at Hanniford? They cough up $500-600.00 at a time for the PD, per the store manager. If no one directly handles it, how does it get to the bank? He said the PD picks it up......
9)He leads the public to think the donations are only for the elederly. Sorry folks, it's not that way.
Can you say FIRE HIM? Can you say ARREST HIM?
July 22, 2008 8:43 PM
Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson
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19 comments:
The letters have been submitted to the Atkinson Taxpayers site for viewing.
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/
Wow, great work here.
Funny, this is what the Lawrence Eagle Tribune used to do when it actually had accurate reporting, and before it had reporters in Atkinson that sat on their hands.
OH MY GOD! This is a most serious state of affairs. I think the Atkinson Board of Selectmen will face dozens and dozens and dozens of Right to Know Requests about these unregistered donation accounts and how the money got spent and why they are in violation of the laws, rules and regulations. How the hell did these idiots make it this far? And the Selectmen had better face the music and not hide the truth with "smoke and mirrors". Violation of the Laws of the state of New Hampshire and the IRS Laws and regulations is a mountain that sticks up like Mt. Everest. The Selectmen and Police Chief cannot hide this one or obfuscate. They are in such deep do-do it is unbelievable. It is beginning to look like the August Deliberative Session will include warrant articles for individual resignations! That is...if arrest warrants are not issued first. Oh My God!
Will someone please post the exact location of these letters on the Atkinsontaxpayers.org site? I am desperately trying to find them.
Whoever did all this investigative research to uncover the truth deserves considerable respect from the taxpayers of Atkinson. Brilliant work and my hat is off to you. The board of selectmen and Atkinson PD need to "investigate" the definition of the word integrity. Integrity seems to be a word they are ignorant of. Integrity is "HONESTY and a steadfast adherence to strict moral and ethical codes."
What we have here is a major scandal!
they have been submitted, they have not been posted yet.
Why isn't the selectman doing anything? This is getting more and more ugly by the minute. Why can't they just do their job and be done with it?
someone needs to let the AG know that those procedures are only followed for the main donation acct. not all the rest of phil's slush funds.
I got it! So the other slush funds are completely illegal, not registered with the state or the IRS, no taxes paid, no trustee, not monitored or monies accounted for. Right to Know requests are absolutely needed at this time. And the BOS better not charge anyone a single dime for the requested information claiming that it is outside their normal course of business. The slush funds themselves are outside the normal and proper code of conduct. Also the Attorney General's Office needs to step in and clean house in the Town. Resignations would also help clean up this mess.
To 10:37 AM: - Not only are the other funds illegal but the account the town uses for the donations is also illegal since they have not registered as a charitable fund either. Just because the town has a tax id doesn't mean they can operate a non-profit fund. They have to register with the AGO and if the monies exceed a certain amount they also have to file documents with the IRS. These donation monies surpass the amount. They are guilty on both fronts. They are also required to make public the donations, the donators and the expeditures. The Chief has not been going before the BOS to get money for parties and trips, at least I haven't seen any of these requests. This makes me think he either has direct access to the ccount or has a secret account.
What surprises me is that the town has other non-profit funds and they ARE registered. The only dept operating illegally is the PD. It must be obvious to those in charge that something is wrong with the way the PD is manging the money.
Thanks for the kudos, I've been working on this for a while :)
I am amazed! I served on the budget committee for 6 years, chaired it for 2 and did not know about all these different accounts. I knew about the police donation account, which despite what the chief evidently stated to the AG's office, is the only acct. that the bookeeper is in charge of, and it is not audited by Mason and Rich. It is also the only account which was legally established by warrant article under RSA 31:95b.
I have heard the chief refer to "the life is not done yet foundation" but I thought it was some non-profit that worked with seniors, not a private fund controlled, managed, and disbursed only by the chief, without oversight or accountability!
And as for the accountability, the town has nothing to do with any of these other accounts! Contrary to the AG's letter, the money is not ALL given to the town, and the selectmen do not approve ALL expenditures.
Where are these other accounts?
Where are the donor lists?
Where are the expenditures?
Where are the bank accounts held?
Who has spending authority?
Who is the director?
Who are the trustees?
Where are the state filings, and reports of disbursements?
The next step is to document the withdrawal requests over time. This will show which requests are legal and which are not. The minutes are required to be posted by law so weding thur them won't be a big deal.
I, for one, have never heard of any requests to the BOS for money from the town account for parties, luncheons or trips.
How much you want to bet the selectmen do nothing again, and the state gives him another slap on the wrist.
Why is it that the people sworn to enforce the law are the only ones allowed to break it?
The letters are posted.
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/atkinson/category/complaints/
Why is it that EVERY time there is a scandal in town it is because of something our police chief did?
Why is it that every time Atkinson is in the papers it is because of something our chief said or did?
Unbelievable! Read the letter form chief Consentino to the AG.
What Arrogance!
Here are the questions I have after reading the letters;
1.) If ALL funds are put into the donation account, then where did the extra $21,000 that was raised for the wheelchair van go? Only $17,000 was spent out of the donation acct. yet the town report says $37,000 was raised for the van.
2.) Where is the money for the "life is not done FOUNDATION" deposited?
3.) Why are there no public hearings to accept the $6,000 donations from one lady, or the $4,000 donation from another, or the $9,000 donation that paid for all the ridiculous graphics on the "pleasure vehicle" Durango?
4.) If chief has no access to these funds who does?
5.) Who spends the money outside of the donation acct.?
What is the word for people who cant tell the truth???
He also states this is how they've been operating for 15 years.
Get rid of him!
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