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County commissioners approve nonprofits proposal
By Dan Eakin, deakin@starlocalnews.com
The Collin County Commissioners Court on Monday voted 3-2 "to acknowledge that the county auditor can assist or keep financial records for nonprofits supporting the teen courts and animal shelter."
Following a lengthy discussion at the end of a three-and-a-half hour meeting, Pct. 4 Commissioner Duncan Webb made the motion, seconded by Pct. 3 Commissioner Joe Jaynes and supported by Pct. 2 Commissioner Cheryl Williams. County Judge Keith Self and Pct. 1 Commissioner Matt Shaheen voted against.
A nonprofit organization, similar to education foundations which are in many school districts, has already been set up for the Collin County Teen Court, and a nonprofit organization for the Collin County Animal Shelter is yet to be established.
Williams said that the county auditor would only do annual bookkeeping and that it would not be extremely time-consuming for him.
Self expressed opposition to the county getting involved with the organizations that would raise money to support scholarships for the teen court and animal shelter.
He read from a 1964 Ronald Reagan speech, which stated, "...outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector."
Shaheen said he voted against the motion because, "The state constitution does not give the commissioners court the authority to tell the auditor to keep somebody's books. That is stepping out of bounds."
Bilyeu said individuals, businesses, corporations and trusts would be willing to offer financial support to the teen court and animal shelter through nonprofit organizations.
"For example, Petco, Petland and other corporations and trusts may be willing to give to nonprofits but not to the government," Bilyeu said.
He said that Charlie Philips, a McKinney attorney, has already established a nonprofit organization for the teen court, and that Philips and two justices of the peace serve as the board of directors.
Before voting on the proposal, Williams had made a motion for the county to pay for an attorney to draw up legal documents to submit to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to seek tax-exempt status for the two nonprofits.
After no one seconded the motion, Webb, who is an attorney, agreed to volunteer to draw up the papers to seek the tax-exempt status.
After the meeting, Williams said the nonprofits and their tax-exempt status will provide greater incentives for people to contribute to the teen court scholarship fund and to the animal shelter.
She said that once legal documents are submitted to the IRS for tax-exempt status, approval should be forthcoming.
"This will provide a mechanism to allow the public to make tax-exempt donations to both the animal shelter and teen court that could offset tax dollars," Williams said.
She said that Collin County is among the few counties in Texas that have animal shelters, that most animal shelters are sponsored by municipalities, and that many are set up to accept tax-exempt donations.
Jaynes said, "Animal shelters and teen court are very emotional issues for a lot of people. Any extra avenue that we can have to get people to donate to those programs will save taxpayers money in the long run."
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