Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of the Valley of Spokane and Coordinated Bodies

“To become a Scottish Rite Mason, a potential member must be a Master Mason in good standing of a Lodge recognized by or in amity with the Conference of Grand Masters of North America, and have resided within the jurisdiction of the Lodge. All potential members are vetted and approval for membership ratified by majority vote of the executive council or general membership. All members must conform to the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws of Supreme Counciol of the Scottish Rite and the Bylaws of the Lodge.”

“The executive council is elected by majority vote of a quorum of the general membership in attendance at a duly scheduled stated meeting every two years. The last election was in November of 2015 with an effective date of January 1, 2016. The next election will be in November of 2017 with an effective date of January 1, 2018.”

“The membership can pass any governing motion by majority vote.”

“The Form 990 was prepared by the independent accounting firm of SCHOEDEL & SCHOEDEL, Certified Public Accountants, PLLC based on information provided by the organization. Draft copies of the Lodge's Form 990 were first provided to the Lodge's bookkeeper and Secretary, who reviewed the Form 990 for accuracy and completeness. Any questions, concerns or issues raised by the bookkeeper and Secretary were addressed and any necessary revisions were made to the Form 990. The revised Form 990 was then provided to the executive council for its review and approval. Any additional questions, concerns, or issues raised by the executive council were addressed, and any necessary revisions were made to the Form 990. The final version of the Form 990 was reviewed, approved, and filed by the executive council.”

“To ensure the Lodge operates in a manner consistent with its tax-exempt purposes and does not engage in activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status, the executive council conducts periodic reviews. The periodic reviews include, at a minimum, the following subjects: Whether the contractual arrangements with service providers and the services provided are reasonable, based on competent market and survey information, and the result of arm's length negotiation. Whether contractual arrangements with service providers and arrangements with other organizations conform to written policies, are properly recorded, reflect reasonable investment or payments for goods and services, further tax-exempt purposes, and do not result in inurement, impermissible private benefit or in an excess benefit transaction. Whether any transaction conducted by the Lodge during the review period involves or could possibly give rise to a conflict of interest. If any potential conflicts of interest are identified, the transaction is investigated by the executive council to determine if a conflict of interest actually exists. If it is determined a conflict of interest exists, the executive council investigates alternatives to the proposed transaction or arrangement. After exercising due diligence, the executive council determines whether the Lodge can obtain, with reasonable efforts, a more advantageous transaction or arrangement with a person or entity that would not give rise to a conflict of interest. If a more advantageous transaction or arrangement is not reasonably attainable under circumstances that would not give rise to a conflict of interest, the executive council determines whether the transaction agreement or arrangement is in the Lodge's best interest, for its own benefit, and whether it is fair and reasonable. In conformity with the above determination the executive council makes a decision as to whether to enter into the transaction agreement or arrangement. The minutes of the meeting reflect that the conflict disclosure was made to the executive council, the vote taken and, where applicable, the abstention from voting and participation by the interested party. Whenever possible, the minutes frame the decision of the executive council in such a way to provide guidance for consideration of future conflict of interest situations. a conflict of interest.”

“The secretary does receive a $200 per month stipend for services rendered. This is considered a nominal amount for the amount of time he spends on his official duties of overseeing the Lodge's activities. The stipend is not meant to be fair compensation for the amount of effort and responsibility required of the secretary.”

“The organizations' governing documents, financial information and Form 990 are available to the general public upon written request sent to Scottish Rite of Spokane Valley at: 157 South Howard Street, Suite 311 Spokane WA 99201”