Commissioners to weigh new rules for nonprofits
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 15, 2015 1:50 AM
sherring@newsargus.com
Wayne County commissioners are considering a policy that would require nonprofit organizations to prove that their programs are worth the county cutting services or even increasing property taxes to fund them.
Requests would be considered only once a year -- during the budget process -- and nonprofits could expect more demands on, and closer scrutiny of, their financial records, audits and fundraising efforts.
They would be required to show how their programs have a direct connection with county-provided services and the county's core mission.
Nonprofits would have to demonstrate as well why their services should be financially supported by the county at the expense of all other nonprofits in the county.
They also would be asked if they were willing to enter into a written agreement with the county specifying the services to be provided and the measurement and evaluation criteria to determine success.
Those are just a few of the tests on a laundry list of hurdles that nonprofits would be forced to clear should commissioners adopt the new policy.
The board is scheduled to discuss and to possibly act on the policy when it meets Tuesday morning.
The meeting will begin with an agenda briefing at 8 a.m. followed by the formal session at 9. Both will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the Wayne County Courthouse Annex.
Nonprofits have been in the board's crosshairs since the new Republican majority assumed control in 2012.
The board has whittled away at some of the funding over the past two budgets.
During a Jan. 8 planning retreat, Commissioner Joe Daughtery, who has been the most vocal about reining in, if not eliminating, county support of the nonprofits, told County Manager George Wood to look at drafting a policy on how commissioners should deal with those organizations.
Just 12 days later, Wood recommended that the board deny a request by Goldsboro city officials to jointly fund a full-time events coordinator position for the city who would work with the Special Olympics and the Senior Games.
Commissioners approved a motion for Wood to look at all of the county-funded nonprofits and report back to the board.
At that same meeting, some commissioners said that the public needs to step up and provide the funding.
The county funds 22 of what it calls "outside agencies." All are considered traditional nonprofits except for the Mount Olive Airport ($33,281) and the GATEWAY transportation system ($94,279).
Five of the nonprofits funded in the county's 2014-15 budget account for $771,232 -- slightly more than 67 percent -- of the $1,149,592 allocated for the outside agencies.
They are WATCH (Wayne Action Teams for Community Health), $220,000; WISH (Wayne Initiative for School Health), $170,000; Friends of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, $150,000; Communities in Schools, $130,000; and Literacy Connections, $101,232.
The county manager would be responsible for collecting the information from the nonprofits and for making a recommendation to commissioners as part of the annual budget process.