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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdvisory Board Relations Affiliate Communications Policy          2008 Town of Westlake /  Westlake Academy  Town Council / Board of Trustees   CITIZEN ADVISORY  BOARD/COMMITTEE/AFFILIATE RELATIONS  AND COMMUNICATIONS POLICY      1  (adopted December 8, 2008)  CITIZEN ADVISORY BOARD/COMMITTEE/AFFILIATE  RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS POLICY    Contents    I.   POLICY PURPOSE. ................................................................................................................................... 2  II.   POLICY GOALS. ........................................................................................................................................ 2  III.   POLICY PARAMETERS ............................................................................................................................. 2  A. Annual Meeting with Board. ............................................................................................................ 2  B.   IRS Tax‐Exempt Status Requests. ..................................................................................................... 3  C.   Use of Town and Academy Name, Resources, and Logos. .............................................................. 3  D.   Fiduciary/Stewardship Responsibilities and Requirements. ........................................................... 3    2  (adopted December 8, 2008)  I.   POLICY PURPOSE. To establish a clear framework and process for enhanced collaborative interaction, communication, and mutual understanding of roles and responsibilities between the Town Council (TC) and the Board of Trustees (BOT) and their various citizen advisory boards, commissions, committees, and organizations affiliated with the Town of Westlake and/or Westlake Academy. II.   POLICY GOALS. The goals of this policy are: A. Enhanced two-way communication between the TC/BOT and its various advisory boards, commissions, committees and affiliate organizations (and vice versa). B. Reaching mutual agreement regarding annual programs of work for these various citizen advisory boards, commissions, committees, and affiliate organizations to enhance and assist in the pursuit of the TC’s/BOT’s strategic priorities. C. Achieving a common paradigm that all advisory boards, commissions, committees, and affiliates of the Town of Westlake and Westlake Academy exist to further the TC/BOT strategic agenda and are under the direct control of BOT/TC or, if they are a Westlake Academy affiliate, are under the day-to-day direction of the Head of School. D. Creating a clear understanding, coordination, and agreement by the TC/BOT and its citizen advisory boards, commissions, committees, and affiliate organizations as to each group’s role, function, and scope of responsibility in terms of their relationship to the Town of Westlake and/or Westlake Academy. E. Establishing a direct link between Westlake Academy, its Head of School, and the Academy’s Senior Management Team as being the first point of contact for coordinating the activities of Westlake Academy affiliates. III.   POLICY PARAMETERS. To achieve this policy’s purpose and goals, the following parameters are put in place: A. Annual Meeting with Board. All TC/BOT advisory boards, committees, commissions, and affiliate organizations shall meet at least annually with the TC/BOT to: 1.) Report on progress to date in implementing that group’s program of work for the current fiscal year 2.) Review a proposed program of work for the coming fiscal year as well as submit any budget requests and requested staff resources for this proposed program of work. Said program of work will be discussed within the context of the organization’s program of work carrying out the TC’s/BOA’s strategic plan for both the Town and Westlake Academy. All funding requests should be submitted not later than the July 1st prior to the upcoming fiscal year. Requests received after that time will not be considered until the following fiscal year. 3.) Review fund raising activities underway or planned to support the current or proposed plan of work. 3  (adopted December 8, 2008)  4.) The chair of each advisory board, committee, and/or affiliate organization shall schedule this annual meeting (or more frequent if needed) through the Town Secretary’s office. The TC/BOT may choose to hold these meetings one or two times per year. 5.) All affiliates of Westlake Academy, prior to meeting with the TC/BOT, will meet with the Head of School to make sure they their proposed efforts are coordinated through the Head of School and his/her designates. B.   IRS Tax­Exempt Status Requests.  All advisory committees, commissions, boards, and affiliates seeking tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service 501(c)3 must receive prior approval from the TC/BOT. When submitting a request to the TC/BOT to apply for this IRS 501(c)3 status, the organization wishing to apply must be able to demonstrate and illustrate to the TC/BOT the benefits of this status for achieving TC/BOT strategic priorities as well as the advantages of this designation not currently afforded by the Town’s existing tax- exempt status. Further, the organization requesting to apply for this 501(c)3 status must be able to demonstrate to the TC/BOT their organizational capacity to administer and comply with all IRS regulations related to this status on an on-going basis. C.   Use of Town and Academy Name, Resources, and Logos.  Any advisory board, commission, or committee, as well as affiliate organizations of the Town or Westlake Academy, that wish to begin using the Town or Academy’s name or logo in their operational efforts must receive prior approval from the TC/BOT. Said approval can be withdrawn at any time by the TC/BOT. Additionally, any on-going use of Town facilities, resources, and staff by an advisory committee, commission, board, or affiliate must be requested through the Town Manager’s office and is subject to his/her approval prior to on-going utilization of those resources. Requests to add organizations covered by this policy to the Town’s insurance policy shall be submitted to the Town Manager for his prior approval before any insurance coverage is extended. If approved, the annual cost of this insurance shall be borne by the requesting organization. Requests to add staff to support any advisory board, commission, committee, or affiliate shall be made through the Town Manger’s office as a part of the annual budget preparation process and must be approved in advance by the TC/BOT. This request will include the identification of funding resources to pay for this position, the operational reporting arrangement for this position, and which payroll/insurance program this position will fall under. D.   Fiduciary/Stewardship Responsibilities and Requirements. All advisory boards, commissions, committees, and affiliates that expend funds through their own bank accounts must first have TC/BOA approval to have separate bank accounts. All such groups will also submit their financial control procedures to the Town Manager or his/her designate for review and approval as to providing acceptable internal control on collection and expenditure of funds from these bank accounts. 4  (adopted December 8, 2008)  Additionally, if this approval for separate bank accounts is authorized by the TC/BOT, a timely annual audit of this account(s) shall be submitted to the Town Manager or his/her designate for presentation to the TC/BOT. Said audit may be conducted by an external CPA auditing firm or may be conducted by the Town’s Director of Finance with that decision being made by the Town Manager depending on staff workload requirements at the time. Since the Westlake Academy Foundation has IRS 501(c)3 status at the time of the adoption of this policy, that organization shall, at its cost, utilize the same external auditor concurrently used to audit Westlake Academy finances. This Westlake Academy Foundation audit shall be prepared on a timely basis for presentation to the TC/BOT at the same time that the Academy’s audit is presented. For those advisory boards, commissions, and committees funded by the TC/BOT through the Town or Academy approved budget, use of approved budgetary allocations shall be made on transaction by transaction basis. That is, the chair or president of that organization will identify the vendor they wish to utilize, contact the Town’s Director of Finance, and submit necessary invoices so that the vendor can be paid by the Town for goods/services rendered to that advisory committee, commission, or board from their TC/BOT approved budget. Use of approved Town budgeted funds by these organizations shall be in accordance with State purchasing statutes and Town purchasing policies. All by-laws for proposed for citizen advisory boards, commissions, committees, and organizations affiliated with the Town of Westlake and/or Westlake Academy shall first be reviewed and approved by the TC/BOT.