HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommittee of the Whole April 17 20011
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WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
Committee Of The Whole
April 17, 2001
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Council Chair L. Ward
Nelson in the Council Committee Room, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham,
Washington.
Also Present:
Dan McShane
Marlene Dawson
Connie Hoag
Barbara Brenner
Absent:
Sam Crawford
Robert Imhof
1. PRESENTATION BY THE WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL OF NON-
PROFITS (AB2001 -135)
Kay Sardo, Opportunity Council Executive Director, stated they are the
largest community action and human service agency in three counties. As part of
the agency, they provide the Head Start programs and the Community Health
Intake Clinic. They are also responsible to provide services and act as a catalyst in
the community on behalf of those with low incomes. They are also for projects
such as housing rehabilitation and weatherization and low- income heat assistance.
They provide Medicaid outreach. They have the InterFaith Community Health
Clinic. They employ 200 people. The not - for - profit sector organized itself around
this community network. They are working to provide joint workshops, board
training, and various other kinds of technical assistance to people to figure out how
to do their jobs better and more efficiently. It is part of the role of the Opportunity
Council to provide leadership to that group.
The Whatcom Council of Non - Profits has over 80 paying members. The dues
are $25 or $35 per year. They are building a website to share information and
support each other. They've been compared to a developing chamber of
commerce. They started about three years ago. They are trying to build the
possibility of giving voice to the sector as a whole, rather than each agency coming
forward separately.
They also want to provide reliable information on the sector. One of the
things that they looked at when they began to get together is exactly who they are,
what they are, and what is out there. Mr. Greg Winter came into the community
with the idea of doing a catalogue for philanthropy to give people some way of
giving to not - for - profits.
Greg Winter, Paul Schissler Associates, stated one goal was to get a handle
on who they are. The study they did described what in general the non - profits
contribute to the community, why the sector exists, and its role in the economy.
Committee of the Whole, 4/17/2001, Page 1
1 The other objective of the report was to create a baseline so they can monitor the
2 sector over time.
3
4 The nonprofit sector exists to enhance the quality of life by embodying the
5 citizen's values. The nonprofit sector was the way people could give voice to those
6 problems and to create solutions, building a community in the process. Often
7 overlooked is what the nonprofit sector contributes to economic growth and the
8 economy. He would quote most of his information from 1997, the most recent year
9 for which the statistics are available.
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11 In that year, there were 836 nonprofit organizations in Whatcom County that
12 had federal tax exempt status. Of that group, forty percent were non - charitable
13 organizations, such as credit unions. Of the remainder, ten percent are churches,
14 which provide great community services. However, they are not required to report
15 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), so there are not many statistics on those.
16 Thirty -three percent of those organizations are small organizations with incomes
17 below $25,000 per year, and don't have to report to the IRS either. They are left
18 with the eighteen percent of the organizations that are public charities that report
19 to the IRS, which totals 149 organizations.
20
21 They carved that sector up into a number of pieces to see the activity
22 categories. They came up with six or seven categories, the largest being human
23 services at about thirty percent of those 140 nonprofits. There are also education;
24 health; arts, culture, and humanities; environmental; religious; and other
25 organizations. One of the largest categories is the "other" category, which shows
26 the diversity of this sector.
27
28 They also looked at the geographic distribution of these charities in the
29 county. Three - quarters of them are in Bellingham, but many provide services
30 countywide.
31
32 In 1997, the nonprofits spent and earned $100 million. That was an increase
33 of 22 percent over the previous five years. Assets increased 55 percent over that
34 same period. Those numbers surprised some people. About half of the revenue is
35 from public support, which includes contributions from individuals, corporations,
36 and government grants. Program service fees are about 40 percent of the revenue.
37 The remaining revenue comes from things such as investment income and special
38 events. They did not include St. Joseph's Hospital in the $100 million figure. If the
39 hospital is included, the figure doubles.
40
41 In 1997, the nonprofit sector employed about 3,500 people at an average
42 annual wage of about $22,600, which is considerably higher than the county's
43 largest economic sector, the retail trade and services. The total payroll in 1997 was
44 $78 million. That is just the payroll, and it includes St. Joseph's Hospital. That
45 wage is about equal to the health care sector, in a large part because St. Joseph's
46 Hospital is included.
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Committee of the Whole, 4/17/2001, Page 2
1 Folks were interested in comparing counties. One way to look at that is to
2 look at each county's share of the state population, compare that to each county's
3 share of all the nonprofits in the state, and compare that to each county's share of
4 total public support dollars available to all nonprofits. Whatcom County has 2.8
5 percent of the state population, 2.9 percent of charity, and less than one percent of
6 statewide public support dollars. It sounds like that is a pitch for more public
7 support. However, the statistic suggested to him that nonprofits in Whatcom
8 County, because they provide similar services to those in King County, for instance,
9 are doing a good lean and mean job of providing services with minimal funding.
10 King County has 30 percent of the population and 61 percent of the state's public
11 support dollars.
12
13 Hoag questioned whether "public support dollars" refers to the money
14 available from the governments in the state or from the public in the state. Winter
15 stated that term, by the IRS definition, includes all the private and public
16 contributions to nonprofits, including government grants. It includes almost all the
17 money except for the service revenue that they earn.
18
19 Dawson questioned what comes specifically from the government. Winter
20 stated that he hoped a future study would further dissect that public support
21 indicator. They know that a large share of a county's public support money comes
22 from outside the county. That is an indicator of an export industry, which is what
23 they need for economic growth. They will be able to look at the percentage that is
24 government grants or private foundation money.
25
26 Overall, the report found that the nonprofit sector increases the quality of life
27 by providing diverse services and by creating opportunities for people to solve
28 problems and get involved in the community. Most importantly, they found that
29 the nonprofit sector provides about 3,500 jobs, is worth $2 million, and attracts
30 public support dollars. One of the recommendations in the report is to continue to
31 do this over time so they can monitor trends.
32
33 They are presenting this information to the governments and communities in
34 the county so people have a better understanding of the nonprofit sector. They
35 also want to more closely examine the role of churches and faith -based
36 organizations. They have so little data on that, but know anecdotally how
37 important they are. Finally, they want to monitor volunteer resources, which is one
38 good indicator of the value of nonprofits to the community.
39
40 Brenner questioned whether the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)
41 has that kind of information. Sardo stated they only have that information for their
42 own program. With the federal funding of programs such as Head Start, agencies
43 must indicate how many volunteer hours they have, which makes up part of the
44 community match. For agencies that get federal dollars, there is a lot of
45 community match that has to do with people volunteering their time.
46
Committee of the Whole, 4/17/2001, Page 3
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Brenner asked if they could find out the percentage of employed people in
the nonprofits that are disadvantaged people who are hired. Winter stated they
don't know that.
Marty Snyder, Opportunity Council, stated there is a large percentage of that
in the area of drug and alcohol for peer counseling, and also domestic violence. It
is an issue for them when they hire to determine whether someone understands the
kinds of issues that will come up with the people they are going to serve.
Sardo stated they find that, during employee interviews, people will bring up
their life experiences.
Snyder stated that, for the Opportunity Council, when they are able to do
things like building Dorothy Place, the money they bring in from the government is
money that provides a building or service. It is also money they are able to spend
within the local economy.
Brenner asked if they are not allowed to prioritize local vendors. Snyder
stated they do have to supply prevailing wages whenever a project has federal
money. They used to have to take the lowest bid on any project. They have now
found a way not to do that, so they can honor local vendors.
Sardo stated they are able to give each other advice about keeping their
dollars in the community. They are proud to bring $12 million into the community
and see that it stays here.
McShane stated the business community recognizes that they are doing
something good for the community.
Nelson asked if they anticipate an impact due to the potential downturn in
the community economically regarding the status of Georgia- Pacific and Intalco.
Sardo stated they do. The numbers of people who use their services will increase
inevitably.
Brenner stated some of the donations might decrease also.
Snyder stated they have been sitting in with the labor management team for
Georgia- Pacific employees. They are also working with the state to generate extra
money into the community to meet the needs.
Winter thanked St. Joseph's Hospital and the Whatcom Community
Foundation for providing funding to make the presentation.
ADDENDUM:
COUNCIL TO MEET WITH CHIEF CIVIL DEPUTY PROSECUTOR RANDY
WATTS TO DISCUSS PENDING LITIGATION (AB2001 -018).
Committee of the Whole, 4/17/2001, Page 4
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Dawson moved to go into executive session for approximately 30 minutes to
discuss this item and the next item.
Motion carried unanimously.
2. DISCUSSION WITH SENIOR DEPUTY PROSECUTOR DAVE GRANT
REGARDING PENDING LITIGATION (AB2001 -018)
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:00 p.m.
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
These minutes were approved by Council on May 15 , 2001.
ATTEST:
Dana Brown - Davis, Council Clerk
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
L. Ward Nelson, Council Chair
Committee of the Whole, 4/17/2001, Page 5