Beltrami Electric Cooperative Inc

“Jared echternach, lynette nieuwsma, murl nord, and john lund have a business relationship due to serving together on a related taxable entity board. Lynette nieuwsma served on the board of cooperative development llc for a portion of 2016. Jared echternach succeeded lynette nieuwsma on that board of directors for the remainder of 2016. Also murl nord served on the board of cooperative development llc for a portion of 2016. John lund succeeded murl nord on that board of directors for the remainder of 2016.”

“Beltrami electric cooperative, inc. Is composed of members. There is only one class of members of which each member is entitled to one vote.”

“Members elect the board of directors. There are nine different districts and each district has one board member seat. The members have voting rights in each of the nine districts.”

“Certain decisions, such as making changes in the bylaws and entering into a merger, would require the approval of members.”

“The policy committee and union negotiation committee make recommendations to the full board and only the full board can approve the recommendations. The committees do not have authority to act on behalf of the full board of directors and they do not keep minutes.”

“The general manager and director of finance & member services reviewed a draft of the form 990. The approved form 990 was presented at the august, 2017 board meeting for final approval prior to it being filed.”

“There is a separate conflict of interest policy for the board of directors in addition to the general conflict of interest policy for all employees. They are reviewed annually by the board of directors. In regards to employees, each department is responsible to ensure compliance. If an employee willfully takes part in a conflict of interest transaction, disciplinary action will be taken. In regard to the board of directors, if a conflict of interest is identified, the board member no longer meets the qualifications to be a member of the board.”

“The board of directors conducts an annual appraisal of the ceo. Base compensation is established using comparable market data. Incentive compensation is based on specific measures and outcomes as determined by the board of directors and in support of the cooperative's strategic plan.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Included in column (f), estimated amount of other compensation, is the estimated annual increase in the actuarial value of the defined benefit plan. The estimated increase for jared echternach is $17,275, $55,837 for lynette nieuwsma, $74,100 for sid sletten, $38,944 for daniel edens, $41,878 for sam mason, $19,361 for richard riewer, $33,659 for scott pemberton, and $7,775 for derick kubitz. These amounts are estimates in the increase of the value of the plan and are not current year expenses of the cooperative. The current year expense for this defined benefit plan was $13,811, $17,828, $29,353, $26,816, $28,179, $31,371, $17,854, and $17,040 respectively.”

“Benefits paid to members - the cooperative has interpreted the instructions to part ix, line 4, to mean patronage capital allocated for the year, rather than patronage capital retired. This is consistent with the bylaws of the cooperative.”

“Allocated wages & benefit costs - the labor, pension, and payroll taxes reported on lines 5 - 10 are already included in distribution expense, administrative and general expense, and customer expense. Therefore, these amounts are being subtracted out as an other deduction on line 24e in the amount of $(6,797,947).”

“Increase in memberships 12,380. Retirement of capital credits -1,351,639. Cooperative development llc book income 228,894. Cooperative development llc tax income -233,517. Northern safety and security llc book income 11,049. Northern safety and security llc tax income -26,152. Patronage capital credits allocated during current year 878,453.”