Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation

“The completed form 990 is reviewed by the general manager and presented to the board of directors for approval prior to being filed with the irs.”

“Each member of the board of directors is responsible for disclosing instances that might make them out of compliance with the conflict of interest policy. Such disclosures could result in excusal from voting on issues or participating in the actions of the board for situations which would result in a conflict of interest.we are planning to have a disclosure form for the directors to sign so next year we can say "each director completes a statement annually affiriming they are not out of compliance with the conflict of interest policy..."”

“Each year the general manager's performance is evaluated by the board of directors and compensation reviewed using comparability compensation data from other cooperatives.the general manager evaluates the performance of the department managers and also uses comparability compensation data from other cooperatives.”

“Each year in the month of august, the financial statements for the previous year are published in the member's annual report and distributed to every member in the georgia magazine and carolina country magazine. Copies of the form 990, as well as other governing documents and policies are maintained at the office of the cooperative and are available for public review upon request.”

“= $46308”

“Deficiency in internal control - noncompliance and other matters:condition the blue ridge mountain electric membership corporation has a conflict of interest and ethics policy. However, the board of directors and management did not fully understand what constitutes a conflict of interest.effect the president of the board of directors had a conflict of interest as a result of the past due account on his business. He signed statements each year stating that he did not have any conflicts of interest.criteria when the board of directors and management do not fully understand the policies, it is a weakness in internal control.recommendation the board of directors and management should take a class on ethics and conflicts of interest. After they have completed the class, they should then sign new conflicts of interest statements.response of the board of directors and planned corrective action the board of directors and management agree with the finding. The board of directors and management have now taken a class on ethics and conflicts of interest. The board has adopted and signed a new conflict of interest policy at their october 21, 2014 board meeting. Each board member acknowledges their approval of the conflict of interest policy at the monthly board meetings. Five board members have signed up for the following national rural electric cooperative association (nreca) courses.the three new board members have signed up for the five-day credential cooperative director (cdc) course in december. One other board member who has previously taken the (cdc) courses except for the financial decision making course, also one other board member who has taken all of the other courses has signed up for the board leadership courses.on november 17, 2014 an attorney from the georgia bar association gave a presentation on the new conflict of interest policy, the ethical dilemmas and discussion of logical resolution of difficult moral and ethical problems.the board requested and received an approval from rural utilities service, us department of agriculture for an extension for the independent auditors report on financial statements as of june 30, 2014 until december 31. 2014.condition the president of the board of directors, was allowed to have a delinquent commercial utility bill of a company that he owned, by passing the normal disconnection procedures of blue ridge mountain emc.effect the past due account on a business owned by the president of the board of directors was not cut off as required by the policies and procedures on past due accounts. As a result, this account continued to receive services for an extended period of time until the balance was $47,643.53.criteria this is a material deficiency in internal controls, a noncompliance with policies over past due accounts and an abuse of power by the president of the board of directors.recommendation the board of directors and management should obtain legal advice on how to collect this past due amount. The board should make sure that management and employees understand the policy on past due accounts. The board should review past due accounts on a monthly basis to ensure that the policy is being enforced.response of the board of directors and planned corrective action the board of directors and management agree with the finding.as a result of the violation of the policy, the director resigned his position as president of the board as of april 17, 2014 and at the may 13, 2014 meeting the board of directors of blue ridge mountain emc the vice president of the board was appointed to fulfill the duties of the president until such meeting that the re-organization of officers would be held. A legal judgment was obtained against the directors company and an agreement was signed by the director on may 16, 2014, to repay the amount of $47,643.53 by making monthly payments not to exceed one year from the date of the agreement. The board of directors of the blue ridge mountain emc unanimously approved”