RBSA Financial Practices Questioned
The letter was sent to the Ridgewood News by email on Sunday afternoon, May 4. On Monday morning the paper called to confirm that I had sent it and wanted it published. I said yes.
Late Wednesday morning, the three candidates for council received an email message from Ed Virgin, editor of the paper, stating that the volume of letters this week had been so great that the usual noon (Wed.) deadline had had to be cut off a little early. However, he added, anything received before late Wednesday morning (May 7) would be published.
Well, mine wasn’t. Gee.
Too late now.
I called Ed but his phone message said he was out until Monday and not listening to voice mail. Thanks for your objectivity, local newspaper!
Here’s the letter:
RBSA Financial Practices Questioned
Ridgewood News readers deserve to know about an important issue raised at the League of Women Voters Candidates’ Debate on April 29 but omitted from last week’s article on that event (“Race for Two Seats Heats Up,” May 2).
According to public records, the Ridgewood Baseball and Softball Association failed to file federal tax returns for at least 3 consecutive years during Village Council candidate James Albano’s long and continuing tenure as RBSA president. As a result, the group’s tax-exempt status was revoked by the Internal Revenue Service on March 15, 2011.
This suggests that appropriate papers have not been filed for at least 7 or 8 years and that contributions have not been legally tax deductible for several years.
Questions emerge:
Why did this happen? Was it deliberate, or sloppy bookkeeping?
In either case, how might RBSA’s financial practices reflect on Mr. Albano’s ability to serve on the Village Council, which oversees a vastly larger budget?
How much money does the RBSA have and where does it go?
Since RBSA activities heavily use tax-supported fields owned by the Village and Board of Education, might an audit of RBSA’s financial records by the Village be warranted?
Were corporate and individual donors to RBSA informed in a timely way in 2011 and every year since that they could no longer deduct donations from their taxes without violating federal law?
Do any individuals profit from RBSA’s summer baseball clinics conducted on taxpayer-owned property? Might an expansion of the summer clinics be one reason RBSA has pushed so hard to flatten the Schedler property in exchange for a 90-foot baseball field that its neighbors and countless other residents adamantly do not want?
At the debate, Mr. Albano denied being “the sports candidate,” a term no one but him had used that night. Interestingly, a message sent to the RBSA email list last month under the subject line “Albano for Council!” by Gary Muzio, RBSA’s “2014 Commissioner” and a leader of the summer clinics, stated: “While he [Mr. Albano] is not just the ‘sports candidate,’ the issue of the badly needed 90′ field, along with an all purpose field (read: soccer & lax) at Schedler is certainly a timely issue here.”
The assumption that RBSA had tax-exempt status and was therefore prohibited from any political activity, including endorsing candidates for local elections, led to a simple search for confirmation on the excellent IRS website, which quickly revealed the March 2011 revocation.
Might RBSA therefore use its email list for political activity, after all? Consider another factor beyond IRS regulations. The Village and Board of Education, recognizing the RBSA as a nonprofit entity (is it so registered?), have granted it the privilege of being cosponsored by the Village Parks and Recreation Department and Community School. Is it appropriate for a Village/Board of Education-cosponsored athletic organization (given priority in the use of tax-supported fields) to endorse a candidate for public office?
Marcia Ringel
Ridgewood
