From: S Bushart
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 12:29 PM Subject: Eanes Community Update #4
Dear Eanes friends:
Most of us understood that Eanes
taxpayers purchased the Jumbotron scoreboard with close to $500,000 of bond
money--which was fine with most of us because we were told that advertising
income generated by the Jumbotron would benefit Eanes education. We were told
that the Jumbotron would pay for itself in just a few years and that revenue
could support teacher salaries. Most of us assumed that the proceeds from this
advertising revenue would be deposited in the general fund account for
distribution of goods and services to benefit all of our students at every grade
level.
Unfortunately, we have no way
of verifying this because many of these records have not been made public.
Despite the Internal Revenue
Service requirement for all 501(c)3 organizations that "all records, books, and
annual reports of the financial activity of the corporation shall be kept at the
registered office or principal office of the corporation in this state for at
least three years after the closing of each fiscal year and shall be available
to the public for inspection and copying there during normal business
hours," the Westlake CHAPS Club has refused to open its books to the public.
Why?
Eanes responded to a recent
request for jumbotron revenues with a letter stating that there were no
responsive documents.
What are they hiding? What
don't they want the public to see or to find out about? Is there something
amiss?
Eanes parents and taxpayers
have the right to know what the total costs have been for the Jumbotron,
including initial purchase, insurance, operating costs and expenses to cover
vandalism and the additional security required. After all, we paid for the
Jumbotron. We also have the right to know how much revenue has been generated
by the Jumbotron and how much total revenue has been deposited to the general
fund. More questions: Has Eanes ISD turned the Jumbotron advertising revenue
over to the non-profit Westlake Chaps Club? Does the advertising revenue from
the Jumbotron currently benefit only Westlake H.S. athletics?
Wishing all the best for our
children, our parents, our teachers and our taxpayers,
