SCHENECTADY Bellevue group gets tax status BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
In an attempt to get nonprofit status, a Schenectady neighborhood association has won federal permission to get involved in politics. All that Bellevue Preservation Inc. wanted was to be tax-exempt. But the group’s first request was denied because the IRS felt the association was too social. The group’s main event is a summer picnic in the park that draws 400 to 450 people. The association provides free food, toys for every child, live music and even pony rides. “It’s a community-building event,” President Jacqueline Hurd said. “You get people out of their houses, into the park, interacting with each other.” She believes it fosters “community cohesiveness.” But the IRS ruled that it wasn’t charitable — just friendly. “They didn’t feel we were essentially charitable. They felt we were doing social things,” Hurd said. However, government auditors told the association to apply for a lesser-known type of nonprofit status: 501(c)4. F a r m o r e c o m m o n i s 501(c)3. The Stockade neighborhood association has that designation, as does ReTree Schenectady. Hurd applied for the 501(c)4 status, and the IRS approved it last week. She was somewhat surprised to discover, when she opened the approval letter, that the association now has official permission to lobby politicians as much as it wants. It cannot support or oppose a candidate, but it can ask the government to change its policies, laws and procedures. The IRS has issued guidelines highlighting the value of 501(c)4 status to neighborhood associations because they can ask for legislation or argue against it. They “may engage in an unlimited amount of lobbying, provided that the lobbying is related to the organization’s exempt purpose,” according to the IRS. The IRS specifically suggested that neighborhood associations could ask for more police patrols or lobby against legislation affecting their neighborhood. ......................>>>>.................>>>>......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00901&AppName=1
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