Towsontowne Recreation Council
Financial Policies and Procedures
Adopted 9-15-04

The Towsontowne Recreation and Parks Council is a community service organization operating under section 501 (C) 3 of the Internal Revenue Service code. As such, it is necessary that the following financial procedures are strictly applied when conducting Council financial business.

The Chairman of any Council program is responsible for coordinating the collection and distribution of all funds from registration donations and sponsorships. Whenever possible, a program should have a volunteer Treasurer to conduct program financial business in coordination with the Chairman. Duties include formulating a balanced annual program budget, collecting registration donations and other income for deposit, considering and authorizing program expenditures and keeping a reasonably accurate inventory of program supplies and equipment.

Deposit slips, check request forms, budget forms, copies of the Md. Tax exempt card and ledger sheets are available in the Recreation Office and at Recreation Council meetings.
The Council fiscal year is January 1st through December 31st. The Council Treasurer is Chuck Warns, 1729 York Rd Ste 210 Lutherville, MD 21093. .

Annually, the Council Treasurer will prepare the Council’s tax return (Form 990) and submit to the IRS.

Deposits
Every attempt should be made to deposit checks promptly, as a courtesy to the check maker and tool of efficient accounting. In any event, all income must be deposited within fourteen (14) days of the final acceptance of registrations.

All checks must be made payable to the Towsontowne Recreation Council,
(TTRC) and must be deposited along with all cash receipts into the Council checking account maintained at the Bank of America. When accepting checks, write the program name in the notation space for identification purposes in the event that a check is returned for insufficient funds.

When making a deposit, write the Program Name on the deposit slip. The teller at Bank of America should return two (2) validated copies. Keep one for your records. Mail the other copy promptly to the Council Treasurer. (address above) If the Treasurer does not receive a validated copy of the deposit slip your program will not be credited for the amount of the deposit and it will be listed as an unclaimed deposit. (see below)

If the bank sends an adjustment notice for an inaccurate deposit or a returned check from your program, you will receive notice from the Recreation Office and the Council Treasurer will adjust the Council records accordingly.

Expenditures
Chairmen are authorized to purchase any necessary equipment, uniforms, supplies, etc. to operate the program. Any purchases made for the program are exempt from Maryland State sales tax. To pay for these purchases, a check request form including the payee’s name and address, the amount for which the check should be written, a description of the purchase, the program name, and an authorizing signature (Program Chairman or Treasurer) must be prepared. Attach any copies of vendor’s invoices, register receipts, or timesheets and forward to the Council Treasurer for payment. Program Chairmen should retain copies of check requests and vendor invoices for their program records.
The Council Treasurer will not process any payments without an authorized check request form. For certain types of expenditures (such as referee fees, refunds of program fees), a vendor’s invoice will not be available. In these instances, the check request form will serve as the only support for the expenditure. All checks require dual signatures of the Council Treasurer and the Council President. The Council Treasurer will mail the check directly to the payee.

If you require an advance check for which you do not yet have an invoice or receipt, write receipt to follow in the upper left corner of the check request and forward it to the Council Treasurer. When you receive the paid invoice or receipt make a copy for your records and forward the original immediately to the Council Treasurer.

Certain purchases are made directly by the Community Supervisor as authorized by the Council Board of Directors. These may benefit more than one program (such as field paint to line athletic fields). The Community Supervisor will allocate these costs to the appropriate programs based on anticipated usage. Each program will be notified of their portion of these shared costs and should resolve any discrepancies with the Community Supervisor. The Community Supervisor will then notify the Council Treasurer of the allocation and the Treasurer will make the necessary adjustment to the Council’s accounting records.

Program Assessment
Programs are charged an annual assessment to fund the general operating costs of the Council. The assessment is based on the number of registered program participants and is calculated by the Community Supervisor based on the chairman’s registration report. The current assessment is five dollars ($5) per registrant, youth or adult. Program chairmen will receive an assessment letter and program registration report form approximately two (2) weeks after the acceptance of final registrations. This report should be completed promptly and returned to the Recreation Office. The Community Supervisor will send the Council Treasurer a copy of the completed report and the Treasurer will make the necessary adjustment to the Council’s accounting records

Budget and Bookkeeping
Program chairmen and/or treasurers are responsible for formulating a realistic annual program budget and maintaining accurate records of all financial transactions (deposits, expenditures and a fund balance). Programs must be self-sustaining unless otherwise authorized by the Council Board. Checks for expenditures beyond the program fund balance will not be issued without prior Board approval. The fund balance per the program’s records should be reconciled with the balance per the Council Treasurer’s report each month. Any discrepancies should be resolved with the Council Treasurer immediately upon discovery.

At the end of each month, the Council Treasurer will record all transactions on the Council’s financial records (maintained on Quicken). The Council Treasurer will also review the monthly bank statement to identify and record other transactions not previously recorded, including deposits appearing on the bank statement for which no deposit slip was received. The Council Treasurer will prepare a summary of these unclaimed deposits each month and attach this summary to the Treasurer’s report. The Treasurer’s report and summary of unclaimed deposits will be distributed at the monthly Council meetings. Any such deposit which is not claimed by a program within six (6) months will be credited to the Council general fund.

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