Letter from LCI lawyer Frank V. Petrosino
This email is subject to the warning following the message.
Bill,
Thank you very much for your past and future support of Lake Champlain International, Inc.
Please understand that Lake Champlain International, Inc. has not historically allocated its expenditures on an initiative by initiative basis (other than donations to organizations with purposes akin to ours and except through our budget and strategic planning processes (which you are probably aware do not always reflect final expenditures)). To do so is administratively burdensome, and until recently no one has asked us for such a breakdown.
Our financial accounting procedures are geared toward tracking income and expenditures for tax reporting purposes. I very much appreciate that the Form 990 tax returns are not the most intuitive, and there is a lot of detailed internal financial documentation that the Form 990 tax return is merely a summary of.
The recent interest in Lake Champlain International, Inc.'s financial performance and initiatives is another very good opportunity to get the word out about what we have done and currently are doing to restore, conserve, and revitalize Lake Champlain and its communities. To that end, we have launched an internal project to quantify our recent achievements and initiatives in dollar terms. As a part of this project, we will decide upon and implement an allocation methodology that we will be happy to share.
Please understand that such project will take time to complete, and I would ask for your patience. Our hope is to have something ready around the time Lake Champlain International, Inc.'s current fiscal year ends, which is September 30, 2009. I know that there are some out there who may cry about such timeframe being a delaying tactic to put off the inquiry regarding the cost Lake Champlain International, Inc. pays to undertake its initiatives. I trust that you, however, can see that such a project is something that we will do right, and we need sufficient time to complete it properly. In the meantime, our offer still stands regarding meeting with James Ehlers to discuss the organization's finances and initiatives and to review (line item by line item, if you would like) the organization's internal financial reporting documentation. I know James is already gathering historical fee and payout information for individuals who have contacted him on that matter.
In the meantime, you can track the progress of Lake Champlain International, Inc.'s initiatives on our blog (http://www.mychamplain.net/blog/), on our forum (http://www.mychamplain.net/forum/), and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LakeChamplain?ref=ts).
Thank you again for your support of and interest in Lake Champlain International, Inc.
Sincerely,
Frank
Frank V. Petrosino
Lake Champlain International, Inc. Board Member
and
an Attorney at the Law Firm of
Paul Frank + Collins P.C.
One Church Street
P.O. Box 1307
Burlington, VT 05402-1307
Tel: (802) 658-2311
Fax: (802) 658-0042
fpetrosino@pfclaw.com
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From: Bill Birch [mailto:hunter993@myfairpoint.net]
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 4:19 PM
To: Frank V. Petrosino
Subject: LCI forum questions
Frank, I have fished the LCI for around 15 years and hope to fish it another 15 years.
The reason this post started were statements that the LCI has gotten very expensive to participate in.
Many members of this forum also wanted to know that based on the cost to enter the LCI something was being given back to help the lake. We all know that James Ehlers is a hard working sportsman, working for sportsmen's interest. I would expect that James would receive a good salary for the work that he does.
Can you provide a summary of the projects that the LCI has contributed to? I'm not a tax accountant and could never understand a 22 page document.
Believe me, I enjoy the LCI and want to see it receive a clean bill of health. I firmly believe when all the information is out everyone will continue to support the LCI.
Thank You
Bill Birch