Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum

“Members of the suffolk county vanderbilt museum commission shall be appointed by the suffolk county legislature and shall serve as the board of trustees of the vanderbilt museum. The board of trustees of the vanderbilt museum shall from time to time make recommendations to the suffolk county legislature of persons to be appointed to the suffolk county vanderbilt museum commission.”

“The ownership and management of the vanderbilt endowment fund resides with the county of suffolk.”

“The only committee who has written minutes is the education committee. All other committees do not regularly provide written minutes.”

“A draft copy of form 990 was provided to the executive director who distributed copies to the board of trustees for review prior to filing.”

“The conflict of interest policy is enforced by the legislature through a rigorous series of interviews before a candidate for trusteeship is recommended. The parks and recreation committee of the vanderbilt has a formal hearing, which must be attended by the candidate. At that time questions concerning conflicts may be raised. A vote is taken and if passed, a resolution appointing the candidate is voted by the full county legislature. Political conflicts are addressed in county code, as well as in museum policies. Monitoring of potential conflicts is provided by the ongoing oversight of board committees, particularly the finance and education/collections committees. The newly formed county oversight committee, as well as the budget review offices of the legislature and county executive's office, also monitor for conflicts of interests.”

“The compensation of the executive director is an annual salary determined by the board of trustees. It is based on aam and new england museum association published salary surveys of museum personnel, as well as area comparable and most importantly, the museum's budgetary needs.”

“Financial information is available on-line through the suffolk county legislative website. All minutes to monthly board meetings are available on-line and contain museum policies.”

“Loss on disposal of equipment -61,500. Write off of contribution receivable -405,723. Loss on beneficial interest in remainder trusts -2,793,540. Transfer to suffolk county from enterprise fund -195,805.”

“The organization has an finance committee that is responsible for the oversight of its financial statements and the selection of an independent accountant. The process did not change from the prior year.”

“In prior year, the museum prepared its financial statements to include both governmentwide and fund financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the united states of america (u.s. Gaap) as applied to governmental units. In 2022, the museum transitioned to preparing its financial statements in accordance with us gaap as applied to not-for-profit entities. This change in accounting principle was made in accordance with the requirements of accounting standards codification ("asc") 250-10-50-1. Management believes that the adoption of the change enhances the relevance and comparability of financial information, providing a more meaningful representation of the museum's financial performance and position. The adjustment amount due to the change in accounting principle is $17,454,189. (a) this change is comprised of the recognition of a beneficial interest in an endowment held by suffolk county as of january 1, 2022. (b) this change is comprised of the reclassification of a contribution receivable from without donor restrictions to with donor restrictions, in accordance with us gaap.”