Wakefield votes to make belated July 4 contribution

By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

Wakefield — Each year, the Wakefield City Council — along with the Wakefield Township Board of Trustees — contributes to the expenses of the annual July 4 celebration in Wakefield.

Last year was the exception because the city’s Fireworks Committee learned that its nonprofit status had expired.

“In late 2022, the city confirmed that the Fireworks Committee’s 501(c)(4) status was revoked on May 15, 2010,” wrote City Manager Robert Brown, Jr. in an agenda report for the council’s Monday evening meeting.

Hence, while the matter was being resolved in the past year, the city withheld what would have been its standard contribution for last year’s celebration.

Upon learning of the restoration of the tax-exempt status, the council then voted unanimously on Monday to donate $1,500, belatedly, for last year’s July 4 activities.

Councilman Mike Zeckovich at first questioned whether it was appropriate for the city to help fund an event that already had occurred months ago, but City Attorney Raymond O’Dea explained that — once the needed nonprofit status was restored — there was no cause for concern.

The council’s vote means that the city now will have two July 4 contributions in the same calendar year, as a 2024 contribution also is pending for next summer. Brown said the issue can be resolved with a budget amendment.

A Dec. 7 letter to the Fireworks Committee from Stephen Martin of the Internal Revenue Service explained how to maintain the committee’s nonprofit status henceforth.

“Our records show you’re required to file an annual information return (form 990 or Form 990-EZ) or electronic notice (Form 990-N, the e-Postcard). If you don’t file a required return or notice for three consecutive years, your exempt status will be automatically revoked,” stated Martin.

He is the director of Exempt Organizations, Rulings and Agreements for the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Tax Exempt and Government Entities.

There was no other action in Monday’s short council session.

The council’s next regular meeting will be on Jan. 22 at 5:30 p.m. in the municipal building. The public is welcome.