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NMPTA |
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Dear Local PTA Boards and School Principals:
Parent involvement is key to student’s success. With PED and No Child Left Behind mandates for schools to have parent involvement, PTA’s play an important role in keeping schools in compliance with these parent involvement mandates.
Don’t let your local PTA risk losing its PTA classification and its 501(c)(3) non-profit status for non-compliance with reporting issues. Be sure the New Mexico PTA office receives membership dues, monthly membership reports, an officers list, updated by-laws, copies of your budgets and/or audits. New Mexico PTA is here to provide support to help you be in compliance so your local PTA can be the parent involvement component to your schools. Losing your PTA classification would make your local PTA ineligible for PTA sponsored activities and services, mailings and materials provided by New Mexico PTA and the National PTA, and the non-profit status provided through affiliation with New Mexico PTA and National PTA. Your schools and students deserve the best you can offer, stay in compliance as a local PTA.
But maybe your local PTA is considering other avenues. Here’s the scoop on choosing to disband a PTA:
Should the parents chose to no longer be a PTA, your PTA unit would lose its current 501(c)(3) status and would no longer be a tax-exempt organization under New Mexico PTA. All assets obtained by your PTA, including bank accounts, would need to be surrendered to New Mexico PTA, in accordance with PTA bylaws and Federal law requires that you provide New Mexico PTA with a statement of final asset distribution. You will no longer be eligible to use the New Mexico PTA tax-exempt certificates and the misuse thereof may result in penalties imposed by the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department and the IRS. Additionally, if you carry insurance with an AIM Insurance policy, it would no longer be available to you at New Mexico PTA rates. It’s a lot to think about.
Elected officers serving at the time of dissolution are legally responsible for proper dissolution procedures. All legal records such as minutes of meetings, financial statements, bylaws, membership lists, agendas, audit reports, budget and insurance information should be retained for seven (7) years for IRS purposes, in case of an IRS audit. Elected officers serving at the time of dissolution are required by Federal law to respond to an IRS audit, even if they are no longer associated with the PTA, the school, or live in the state.
If you choose to remain a parent organization, other than a PTA, your parent organization must then apply for their own 501(c)(3) and may not legally use the school’s tax exempt status. During the interim the organization would be subject to all state and federal taxes.
We know this is a lot of information to take in. The New Mexico PTA Board of Directors is here to support and help you in anyway possible to help get you back in compliance, if this is your current situation, and to help you maintain your PTA status every year.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and if you need further assistance, please contact our office at 505-881-0712 or nmpta@nmpta.org.
Sincerely,
Angi Gonzales-Carver, President, New Mexico PTA |