Stearns Cooperative Electric Association

“Persons and entities, including joint members, receiving electric service from the cooperative, have voting rights as reflected on the records of the cooperative.”

“Members elect the board of directors (governing body) by ballot through election process (9 voting districts).”

“Removal of directors for cause & reinstate an expelled member. Disposal of more than 25% of the cooperative property. Merge or consolidate with another entity and file bankruptcy. A bylaw change must be approved by the members.”

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

“The ceo and the manager of finance provide and review form 990 with directors before filing.”

“Stearns electric association's "conflict of interest" policy applies to directors, officers, and senior management of the cooperative. Annually, directors, officers and senior management sign a gift statement acknowledging they understand the cooperative's gift policy and that they have not received gifts of such nature. Each year, they also sign a "conflict of interest certification and disclosure statement and disclose any possible conflicts of interest as defined in the conflict of interest policy. The board of directors reviews signed and completed "gift statements and "conflict of interest certifications" each year and takes action as deemed necessary based upon the policy. If there was a potential / actual conflict of interest, the proceedings would be documented in the board minutes. Any number of restrictions may be imposed on persons with a conflict of interest such as requiring divestiture of property, or inability to participate in, discuss, or vote upon decisions or actions to which the conflict is or may be relevant. Violation of the policy may result in disciplinary actions, including but not limited to: termination of directorship or employment. Finally, all employees are also expected to disclose possible conflicts of interest as outlined in the employee handbook.”

“A national survey is used for comparability data. The board takes action independently to establish compensation for the ceo. Salary adjustment form is signed by board president. The ceo determines compensation for key employees. A national survey is used for comparability data. All employees' compensation is determined based upon performance and a national survey for comparability data. Ceo signs off on all wage adjustments. A salary form is signed by employee supervisor. The process described here was last completed in 2024.”

“Governing documents & conflict of interest policy are available on request from the person listed in part vi-c, line 20. Financial statements are available per the public inspection rules. Articles and by-laws are on our website.”

“Capital credits retired -2,243,014. Patronage margins allocated 6,632,331. Estate or cc's applied to bad debt discounts retained 125,817.”

“The process for oversight of the annual financial statement audit and selection of an independent accountant has not changed.”

“The irs instructions state that patronage margins allocated 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 13 of the form 990.”