HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 7051 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7051
October 1, 1985
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
Subject: PROPOSED CHARITABLE SOLICITATIONS ORDINANCE
As a result of a recent Supreme Court decision (Secretary of the State of
Mar land v. Joseph H. Munson Co., Inc.) regarding the regulation of charities
by local ordinances, our current Charitable Solicitations Ordinance No. 8868
can no longer allow the Charitable Solicitations Commission to deny a permit
to a charitable organization based on the percentage of fund raising expenses
incurred, nor the amount of funds raised in relation to the direct support of
the stated purpose of the organization. After deliberations involving the
Commission and the City's Department of Law, it has been determined that the
best course of action is to amend the current ordinance to comply with the
Supreme Court's decision and to change the present role of the Commission.
Currently, the Commission reviews applications from charitable organizations
and issues permits enabling charities to legally solicit funds from citizens
in the City of Fort Worth. The proposed ordinance will delete the charge of
the Charitable Solicitations Commission to issue permits. Instead, it will
become a nine member Board of Review.
A new "permitting" process is proposed in which the Secretary to the Board of
Review will issue a Certificate of Registration to organizations. This will
allow them to solicit funds after presenting the required documentation which
will be held on file as prescribed in the proposed ordinance. In effect, the
Certificate of Registration becomes a "permit" to solicit.
The proposed Board of Review will periodically review documentation to deter-
mine whether an organization meets the standards required as a reputable
organization. Representatives of organizations will be invited to attend the
Board of Review meetings to answer any questions the Board may have. At the
conclusion of the review, the Board will assign a rating to the organization.
Class A - shall mean that the Board has reviewed the registration
statement and all other data submitted by the applicant and has
determined that the amount of projected solicitation expenses as a
percentage of projected collections is reasonable under the facts and
circumstances.
Class B - shall mean that the Board has reviewed the registration
statement and all other data submitted by the applicant and has
determined that the amount of projected solicitation expenses as a
percentage of projected collections is so large that the public is
likely to be misled into believing that a substantial portion of the
contributions will be spent for the direct benefit of the stated pur-
pose of the solicitation.
Class NR - means that the Board has not considered the matter or has
not made a specific finding in a particular case. All certificates
shall initially fall into this classification unless or until reclas-
sified by the Board.
-ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 7051 - p-2
October 1, 1985
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
'rfX Subject; PROPOSED CHARITABLE SOLICITATIONS ORDINANCE
1073
Results of the rating from the Charitable Solicitations Board of Review will
be published as information to the general public. Documentation provided by
the charitable organizations will be held on file for public disclosure and
review.
Each charitable organization will submit a registration statement along with
a $2b registration fee to cover administrative expenses . This fee is non-
refundable in the event a Certificate of Registration is not issued. If one
is not issued, the applicant will be notified and given an opportunity to
provide additional documentation so that a Certificate of Registration can be
issued. No certificate will be issued for more than one calendar year. The
requirements of a Certificate of Registration and exemptions have not been
changed from the requirements of the current Ordinance No. 8868, except that
the $1,000 per year or less exemption has been raised to $2,500 (gross) per
year.
If additional information is desired, it will be provided upon request.
Dougl s Harman
L ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS