Dutchess County Regional Chamber Of

“The dutchess county regional chamber of commerce has its form 990 prepared by an outside accounting firm and has established the following review process to ensure that the information reported is complete and accurate. When the form 990 has been prepared, reviewed by management, and is ready to be filed with the internal revenue service, it is electronically sent to the board members of the organization for any comments. Any comments are then grouped, summarized, and provided to the outside accountants. Each issue is documented and addressed until the return is finalized and approved for filing.”

“The conflict of interest policy is applicable to all board members, and officers. Annually, at the beginning of each calendar year, the listed persons are required to sign a conflict of interest disclosure statement disclosing any actual or potential conflicts. If a board member, committee member, or officer has an interest in a proposed transaction with the organization in the form of a significant personal or organizational financial interest in the transaction or holds a position as trustee, director, officer, or staff member in such organization, he or she must make full disclosure of such interest in writing before any discussion or negotiation of such transaction. Any board member, committee member or staff member who has a potential conflict of interest with respect to any matter coming before the board or a committee shall not participate in any discussion of or vote in connection with the matter unless invited to respond to questions or requested to provide factual information by the board or committee chair.”

“The compensation package of the president and ceo is reviewed annually by the executive committee. The executive committee, acting on behalf of the board of directors, considers the overall financial and operational performance of the chamber to determine if a salary increase is merited. This occurs annually based on the hire date anniversary. For top management officials, the president & ceo and executive vice president & cfo conduct an informal semi-annual performance assessment and annually conducts a written performance assessment of top management personnel. Consideration is given to the person's commitment, skills, length of service and overall contributions to the chamber's service and financial goals, as well as the chamber's operating budget and overall economic outlook. The anniversary hire date of the person is the review date. The finance committee then reviews and refers the operating budget to the board for approval, and recommendations are made during the budget process as to salaries and other benefits. Documentation of the budget review and approval process is provided through meeting minutes.”

“The organization makes its form 990 available for public inspection as required under section 6104 of the internal revenue code. The return is posted on guidestar.org and other similar types of websites. In addition, the financial statements, conflict of interest policy, articles of incorporation, form 990, form 1024, and by-laws are also available upon written request or by calling the organization directly.”