Brown County Rural Electrical Association

“All electric customers are voting members of the cooperative. Each member has one vote.”

“Members vote for the board of directors at the cooperative's annual meeting. The board consists of 9 members with 3 year terms. Each year three seats are up for re-election.”

“Members vote on changes to by-laws and articles of incorporation. There is one class of membership.”

“The cooperative does not have any committees with authority to act on behalf of the governing body.”

“The office manager reviews the 990 in detail. After her review, the 990 is provided to each board member and the general manager. The board meets every month, and will review and approve the 990 at the next scheduled board meeting. The 990 will then be filed with the irs.”

“The conflict of interest policy covers all members of the board of directors. The general manager and the board of directors review the potential conflicts to determine if a conflict exists. If a conflict exists, the conflicted board member or officer is excluded from discussions and votes related to the potential or existing relationship involving the conflict of interest. The remaining board members and officers will review, for fairness, all past transactions involving the conflict of interest. Legal remedies will be considered if needed.”

“The general manager's compensation is reviewed and approved by the board of directors on an annual basis. This was last completed in 2016. Staff compensation is reviewed and approved by the general manager and the board of directors annually. This was last completed in 2016.”

“Governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available to members for review by appointment at the cooperative.”

“Brown county paid michael heidemann, engineering manager, over $100,000 in 2016. However, benco electric cooperative, an unrelated entity, reimbursed brown county 60% of michael's wages and benefits for january through may, 40% june through october and 0% for november and december. Since brown county's share of michael's wages and benefits is not over $100,000 he is not included on form 990, part vii, section a. The following were the total amounts paid to michael for the year: wages-$123,644, deferred compensation-$23,903 and non-taxable benefits-$24,090.”

“Capital credits retired -575,990. Membership changes 15. Amortization of loss related to postretierement benefit plan 100,969. Heartland security services k-1 book to tax difference 2,055. Patronage dividends allocated 1,433,850. Rounding 1.”

“The irs instructions state that patronage dividends paid by section 501(c)(12) organizations to their members should be reported on line 4. The organization has interpreted patronage dividends paid to mean patronage dividends allocated or to be allocated for the current year. Since this allocation is not an expense under generally accepted accounting principles (gaap), this has resulted in a reconciling item to net assets in part xi on page 12 of the form 990 and in part xii on schedule d.”