New standard: Nonprofit yardstick offers some interesting questions

Surprise. We don't agree with the county commissioners about the mission of the county and its new policy on nonprofit organizations.

Not because nonprofit organizations should not be held accountable.

Not because we believe that there should be an unlimited pot of money from which anyone and everyone can draw at will.

And not because we think that the solution to every public problem is a government check.

What bothers us about the policy is simple -- the lack of respect and the squirm-inducing manner by which the policy was presented and its premises defended.

To suggest that local nonprofits have not been providing financial information to the county and not justifying need is disingenuous.

Don't believe us? Ask one of the organizations on the county's list what it had to go through to get the money. It was not simply a visit to the commission.

And to also imply that "fund balances" in nonprofits are equal to such a circumstance in a county or city government -- well that is just plain silly. Anyone who is dealing with a retirement check from investments understands that. Having a nest egg keeps a family, a government and a nonprofit solvent. Depleting a fund balance ends an organization's ability to continue its work.

And by the way, the county has a fund balance, too -- on purpose -- as it should, to keep the county's credit rating high and to soundly manage its financial future.

But all those statements pale in comparison to the newest one: That the yardstick by which nonprofits should be judged is whether the county would raise taxes to support them.

Bingo. Yahtzee. There it is -- the same old threat -- higher taxes.

And in some years that might have worked. But Wayne County voters are smarter than that.

So let's go back to the original statements by the commissioners -- that nonprofits should fit the mission of the county.

So, what is that?

It is one principle and one principle only: To serve the needs of the people of this county and to advance it forward.

It is a broad definition -- and one that really is rooted in another very simple premise -- the will of the people.

So who exactly is going to determine what the people want to spend their money on? The commission? The county manager?

And who will be the group that determines whether the commission's definition of "the county mission" is being applied properly?

That's the problem with the commissioners' new policy in theory. We will have to see how it works in practice.

What should be remembered as this new era of funding begins, however, is that the vast majority of the organizations that the commissioners will be questioning are made up of people who likely make little or nothing from their service.

They serve without fanfare and without great monetary gain -- and the people they help are not political pawns either.

It should also be noted that these organizations are not county employees.

And one final caveat -- they are asking for money that is -- effectively -- theirs. The volunteers who keep these organizations afloat pay taxes, too.

So we say to the nonprofits in the county -- present your case, but do it not only to the county commission, but to the people as well.

We will give you a forum to let the community know what you do, what you spend and how you spend it.

Introduce the people to the people you serve, and make your case, publicly. Educate others about the lives you have changed and the contributions you have made to this county.

And the commission can rest assured, the process of how money is awarded, who gets what and how much will be scrutinized and explanations demanded for the decisions that are made.

That is the mission of not only a community newspaper, but an informed electorate as well -- and there are many people in this community who are watching closely, very closely.

But there is one positive that goes along with a new nonprofit policy -- an idea that perhaps we should have explored long ago.

A closer look at how exactly the county IS spending our tax dollars.

Perhaps we could start with an explanation of how some of the commission's past bizarre decisions have actually furthered the mission of the county?

Perhaps we should decide if a new sound system and a car with a pretty paint job to cart around television equipment are worth "raising taxes" to fund.

Interesting question, isn't it?

Published in Editorials on February 21, 2015 11:57 PM