Local non-profits scramble to get right with taxman

When contacted Friday, however, officials of three of the more noteworthy groups on the list reported that they've addressed the problem, while an official of a fourth organization reported that the group that's named on the list was succeeded by a new organization decades ago.

The Havar Foundation, which is on the list, "has been defunct for quite a long time," reported Debbie Schmieding, director of Havar, Inc., its successor group.

Based in Athens and Washington counties, Havar, Inc., provides community-based support services to citizens with developmental disabilities.

Schmieding said her organization has been operating as Havar, Inc., since the early 1970s.

The list of at-risk non-profits, available on the IRS website, is broken down by state. According to the site, "tax-exempt organizations that do not satisfy annual filing requirements for three consecutive years automatically lose their tax-exempt status."

However, the IRS is offering one-time relief for such organizations, if their filing due dates fall between May 17 and Oct. 15. The online list includes non-profits for which the IRS has no record of a required annual filing for 2007 and 2008, and whose 2009 return, due between the dates cited above, had not yet been received at the time the list was generated on June 30.

Based on the tax-exempt organizations on the Ohio list that give cities or villages in Athens County as their home base, it would appear that 94 local groups are represented.

Three groups named on the list confirmed that they had been warned they were at risk of losing tax-exampt status, but have addressed or are in the process of addressing their paperwork problems with the IRS.

One is the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACENet), whose self-described mission is to "build networks, support innovation, and facilitate collaboration with Appalachian Ohio's businesses to create a strong, sustainable regional economy." ACENet made the list along with its affiliate, ACENet Ventures.

Contacted Friday, ACENet Director Larry Fisher said the organization was made aware of the filing problems, and has dealt with the IRS about them.

"I think everything is filed, even the current 2009 (return)," Fisher reported. "So I don't know what is going on with that We should be in good shape."

(As mentioned, the online list dates from June 30, so it may not reflect changes in an organization's status in the last two months.)

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a union representing government workers, has four locals on the IRS list, including Local 1351 (Trimble Local School District) and Local 1846 (Athens City Schools).

William Sams, regional director for AFSCME Ohio Council 8, said Friday that the locals have been made aware of the problem, and are in the process of getting their IRS paperwork in order.

"We've started doing a lot of that here in the last week," Sams said. "We have been working on this all week, actually We have contacted our locals, and I have to say, they have absolutely been getting on top of it."

He said one source of difficulty may be that in the past, if a union local had a budget of less than $25,000, it did not have to file a return which has now changed. Sams added that the AFSCME locals definitely want to get the problem fixed, because "the penalties are harsh" for not doing so.

"Someone could lose their tax-exempt status," he noted.

Another significant local non-profit included on the list is the Athens Farmers Market. Market director Kip Parker reported Wednesday that the organization has recently gotten up to date on filing its returns, and has received confirmation from the IRS that it is in compliance.

In addition to the time lag from when the IRS list was generated, it's likely as suggested by the Havar Foundation's inclusion that many organizations on the list may have simply gone out of existence and never alerted the federal tax agency.

Another organization that's included, for example, Sine-Cera, is definitely no longer a going concern. It had been a church-related group home for foster children, started in 1986 at a site on the outskirts of Athens. A call to the Bethel Worship Center near Tuppers Plains, the church whose current pastor helped start Sine-Cera, confirmed that the group home no longer exists.

Another name on the list, Concerned Citizens of the Coolville Area, was formed in the early 1990s, specifically to oppose a planned medical waste incinerator in that part of the county. The incinerator project has long since been abandoned.

Among the many other organizations found on the list are the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce; the Athens Area Arts Alliance; the Athens Jaycees; Southern Ohio Lodge 55 of the Fraternal Order of Police; the Murray City Volunteer Fire Department; and the Rome Township Volunteer Fire Department.