Key Peninsula Historic Society

“"Yes" we have members. But "No" we do not have stockholders. The Key Peninsula Historic Society has members who pay annual dues in order to be called a member of our organization. An individual must be a member in order to qualify to be placed on the ballot to possibly be elected as a member of our governing Board of Directors.”

“The following information applies to the process the Key Peninsula Historic Society uses to review the content of our Form 990. Once our Treasurer has prepared a draft of our Form 990 for the current fiscal year, it is presented to our museum Board of Directors for review and approval at a normally scheduled monthly Board meeting at an appropriate time before it is submitted to the IRS. After review and approval by the Board of Directors, we then employ a commercial firm who provides an electronic Form 990 filing system that can be used by private non-profit organizations like us to file our annual report to the IRS for a normal fee. The Treasurer then enters the completed Form 990 information into the commercial firm's electronic system. This firm then electronically submits our Form 990 to the IRS for review and acceptance. Once accepted by the IRs, an electronic copy of our Form 990 is then forwarded to us and filed in our permanent records. This final Form 990 is then used by the Treasurer to develop a draft Form 990 for the following fiscal year.”

“The following information applies to the process the Key Peninsula Historic Society uses regarding an actual or perceived conflict of interest by any member of our museum Board of Directors. We have a written conflict of interest policy that is in force at all times. Prior to the elections at our Annual Membership Meeting, the Nominating Committee conducts preliminary interviews with all applicants for each position on our museum Board of Directors where the topic of any actual or perceived conflict of interest is discussed. If there is any actual or perceived conflict of interest brought forward to the Nominating Committee by any member, that conflict of interest must be satisfactorily resolved before the annual election meeting is held. If any conflict of interest cannot be resolved before the Annual Membership Meeting, then that applicant cannot be advanced to the official ballot for possible election to any museum Board of Director position. If there are no actual or perceived conflicts of interest by an applicant, that individual is then advanced to the official ballot. The members of the Key Peninsula Historic Society annually elect members to all positions on our museum Board of Directors at our Annual Membership Meeting which is held in late February or early March of each fiscal year. The date scheduled for this meeting varies each year depending upon the timing of the completion of our current annual exhibit that is always developed during the Winter months when our museum is not open to the public.”

“This line on the Form 990 requires all filers to describe whether (or how) they make certain records available to the general public for inspection, as required by law. As indicated in our response to Part VI, line 18, the Key Peninsula Historic Society makes these required forms and documents available to the general public for inspection whenever they are requested by any citizen. So, "Yes" we do make these required forms and documents available to the general public upon request. The same procedure is also used to make our governing documents, conflicts of interest policy, and financial statements available to the general public throughout the fiscal year. Any requests for information are normally sent directly from the citizen to our President. The President then forwards any request for information to our Treasurer who maintains the custody of these official organizational records. The Treasurer then provides the requested information to the citizen upon their request, the same as for Part VI, line 18. Our Treasurer reports that there have been no citizen requests for any of our official records during the past seven fiscal years.”

“Other expenses are as follows: (1) grant expenses ($48,670); (2) student scholarships ($2,000); (3) exhibit and display upgrade expenses ($3,191); and, historical outreach to the community ($525). Total other expenses listed are $54,386.”

“The following explanation is provided regarding "other changes in net assets or fund balances" required to be reported on this line (Part XI, line 9). Our prior year Form 990-EZ for the Key Peninsula Historic Society included an "other assets" entry for $4,950 for this related line item. During the current fiscal year, the Pierce County Assessor's Office officially recognized the improved value of our restoration project at the Vaughn Library Hall, our largest artifact, the last remaining community hall on the Key Peninsula. This new assessment increased the land and property value of the Vaughn Library Hall by a total amount of $344,900 for a new total assessment of $495,900 (increased from the prior assessed value of $151,000 in the previous fiscal year). Therefore, the amount reported on line 9 on the current year Form 990 is shown at $339,950, the net amount calculated by the increase of $344,900 in assessed value of the Vaughn Library Hall land and building less the previous "other assets" amount of $4,950 shown on our prior fiscal year Form 990-EZ. The final number in the "reconciliation of net assets" section of the current year Form 990 results in a calculation for our new "net assets or fund balances at year end" of $577,403, which agrees with the amounts shown in Part I of this Form 990 for lines 20, 21, and 22. During the prior fiscal year, the Washington State Department of Revenue approved our application for the Vaughn Library Hall land and property to be "exempt" from Pierce County property taxes. This status was then confirmed by the Pierce County Assessor' s Office during the current fiscal year. Accordingly, we are not required to pay any property taxes on our Vaughn Library Hall land and buildings. However, ownership of this parcel of land and the building will require the Key Peninsula Historic Society to continue reporting to the IRS each future year using Form 990 (i.e.; based upon the criteria of our total assets exceeding $500,000, even though a normal revenue year for us in future years will always be under $50,000).”