ASSEMBLY, No. 2609
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED DECEMBER 16, 1996
By Assemblyman DeSOPO and Assemblywoman ALLEN
An Act concerning certain charitable organizations and amending P.L.1994, c.16.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 7 of P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17A-24) is amended to read as follows:
7. a. Every charitable organization, except for those provided for in section 8 of this act or exempt pursuant to section 9 of this act, shall file a long form registration statement with the Attorney General.
b. The long form shall contain the following:
(1) The name of the organization and any other name or names under which it intends to solicit contributions and the purposes for which it was organized;
(2) The name, street address and telephone number of each officer, director and trustee and each principal salaried executive staff employee and whether the person has been adjudged liable in an administrative or civil action, or convicted in a criminal action, involving theft, fraud or deceptive business practices. For the purposes of this paragraph:
(a) a plea of guilty, non vult, nolo contendere or any similar disposition of alleged criminal activity shall be deemed a conviction; and
(b) "each principal salaried executive staff employee" shall be limited to no more than the five most highly compensated employees in the organization.
(3) A copy of the most recent Internal Revenue Service Form 990 and Schedule A(990) for every registrant if the organization filed these forms;
(4) A clear description of the specific programs and charitable purpose for which contributions will be used and a statement whether such programs are planned or are in existence;
(5) Whether any of the organization's officers, directors, trustees or principal salaried executive staff employees as defined in subparagraph (b) of paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section are related by blood, marriage or adoption to each other or to any officers, agents or employees of any fund raising counsel or independent paid fund raiser under contract to the organization, or are related by blood, marriage or adoption to any chief executive employee, any other employee of the organization with a direct financial interest in the transaction, or any partner, proprietor, director, officer, trustee, or to any shareholder of the organization with more than a two percent interest of any supplier or vendor providing goods or services to the organization and the name and business and home address and telephone number of each related party;
(6) The amount of any grant or financial assistance from any agency of government in its preceding fiscal year; and
(7) Any other information as may be prescribed by rules adopted by the Attorney General. In prescribing the requirements of the long form, the Attorney General shall permit a charitable organization to incorporate by reference any information reported by the organization on its Service Form 990 and Schedule A(990).
c. With initial registration only, every charitable organization required to file a long form registration shall also file the following; provided, that any changes in the accuracy of this information shall be reported to the Attorney General pursuant to subsection e. of section 14 of this act:
(1) A copy of the organization's charter, articles of organization, agreement of association, instrument of trust, constitution or other organizational instrument and bylaws;
(2) A statement setting forth the place where and the date when the organization and its tax exempt status was legally established, the form of its organization, with copies of federal or state tax exemption determination or exemption ruling letters;
(3) The principal street address and telephone number of the organization and the address and telephone number of each office in this State. If the organization does not maintain an office in this State, the name and address of the individual having custody of its financial records in this State shall be disclosed;
(4) The name, street address and telephone number of each affiliate which shares in the contributions or other revenue raised in this State; (5) The date when the organization's fiscal year ends;
(6) A statement whether:
(a) The organization is authorized by any other state to solicit contributions, and, if so, a listing of the states in which authorization has been obtained;
(b) The organization or any of its present officers, directors, executive personnel or trustees are or have ever been enjoined in any jurisdiction from soliciting contributions or have been found to have engaged in unlawful practices in the solicitation of contributions or the administration of charitable assets;
(c) The organization's registration has been denied, suspended or revoked by any jurisdiction, together with the reasons for that denial, suspension or revocation; and
(d) The organization has voluntarily entered into an assurance or voluntary discontinuance or agreement with any jurisdiction or federal agency or officer; and
(7) Whether the organization intends to solicit contributions from the general public.
d. (1) Every charitable organization required to file a long form registration shall file an annual financial report with the Attorney General. The annual financial report shall include: a balance sheet; a statement of support revenue, expenses and changes in fund balance; a statement of functional expenses at least divided into program, management, general, and fund raising; and such other information as the Attorney General shall by rule require.
(2) (a) The annual financial report of every charitable organization which received more than $100,000 in gross revenue during its most recently completed fiscal year shall be accompanied by an audited financial statement prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles which has been examined by an independent certified public accountant for the purpose of expressing an opinion thereon, except that the provisions of this subparagraph shall not apply to a volunteer fire company or volunteer first aid or rescue squad which received not more than $200,000 in gross revenue during its most recently completed fiscal year if all solicitations were made by members of the company or squad and the company or squad did not employ an independent paid fund raiser.
(b) The annual financial reports of all organizations receiving more than $25,000 but less than $100,000 or volunteer fire companies and volunteer first aid or rescue squads exempt from the provisions of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph shall be certified by the organization's president or other authorized officer of the organization's governing board and at the request of the Attorney General, the organization shall submit an audited financial statement prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles which has been examined by an independent certified public accountant.
(3) The Attorney General may accept a copy of a current financial report previously prepared by a charitable organization for another state agency or officer in compliance with the laws of that state, provided that the report filed with the other state agency or officer shall be substantially similar in content to the report required by this subsection.
(4) An independent member agency of a federated fund raising organization shall independently comply with the provisions of this subsection.
e. In order to register its qualified local units pursuant to subsection c. of section 9 of this act, a parent organization registered pursuant to this section shall include with its initial registration and annual renewal statement a separate statement that provides the following:
(1) The name, principal street address, and phone number of all local units within this State that it is registering;
(2) The amount of gross contributions received by each such unit and the purpose or purposes for which these funds were raised in the preceding fiscal year; and
(3) A statement asserting that each such local unit has provided the parent organization with a written statement reporting the information included on its behalf and asserting that the local unit meets all of the requirements of subsection c. of section 9 of this act.
(cf: P.L.1994, c.16, s.7)
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be retroactive to January 1, 1996.
STATEMENT
This bill exempts certain volunteer fire companies and volunteer first aid and rescue squads from the annual requirement of providing an audited financial statement to the Attorney General under certain circumstances as otherwise provided by the "Charitable Registration and Investigation Act," P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17A-18 et seq.). Section 7 of P.L.1994, c.16 (C.45:17A-24) stipulates that the annual financial report of every charitable organization which received more than $100,000 in gross revenue during its most recently completed fiscal year shall be accompanied by an audited financial statement. The bill exempts a volunteer fire company or volunteer first aid or rescue squad which received not more than $200,000 in gross revenue during its most recently completed fiscal year from the requirement of providing an audited financial statement if all solicitations were made by members of the company or squad and the company or squad did not employ an independent paid fund raiser.
Exempts certain volunteer fire companies, first aid and rescue squads from providing audited financial statements under the "Charitable Registration and Investigation Act."