Polish Town Civic’s president resigns, questioning the group’s finances

The president of the Polish Town Civic Association has resigned as president and quit the board of the organization because he says he was unable to get straight answers about the group’s finances and grew frustrated by its unwillingness to spend money on local charitable causes.

Mielnicki said the organization raises tens of thousands of dollars with its annual street fair and festival and doesn’t spend it on charitable causes in the community.

His requests for an accounting of funds have been rebuffed, Mielnicki said; board members never see a profit and loss statement or a balance sheet, according to Mielnicki.

He says he grew especially concerned because Polish Town Civic Association had its tax exempt status revoked by the IRS. The group lost its tax-exempt status in May 2014 for failure to file federal tax returns for three consecutive years.

Polish Town Civic Association is no longer a tax-exempt organization, according to the IRS website. It never had its tax-exempt status restored. A spokesperson for the IRS said the website database is up to date.

In an interview last December, then-president Smith declined to discuss the organization’s IRS issues, other than to say the organization was aware of the revocation and “it is being rectified.”

Bob Gottschalk, the organization’s accountant who is also a board member and a past president, said in an interview last December he received notice of the revocation right after the fair in August 2014.

But Mielnicki, who was then a board member, said at the time that Gottschalk never told the board about the revocation.

Gottschalk said last year he had been handling the organization’s taxes since 1988 and had always filed paper returns. When he switched to e-filing, something went wrong, he said at the time. “It must be some kind of mix-up with our number or something.”

Today, Gottschalk said he was surprised to learn the organization’s tax-exempt status had not been restored.

“I didn’t know it wasn’t taken care of, so now I’m doing a follow up,” Gottschalk said when reached by telephone at his Wading River office. “I will be working on it. Since the revocation, I have gotten no response. I actually made a new application. I haven’t heard since,” he said.

“I thought this was taken care of, that’s all I can tell you.”

Joyce Smith, who took over as president in October, said today, “This is all news to me.” She said she has called the IRS and is waiting for a call back. “They have not been responsive, so I don’t have any answers,” she said.

Polish Town Civic Association treasurer Maureen Bock said in a phone interview today she thought Gottschalk had addressed the IRS situation.

“I take care of the checkbook,” Bock said. “I thought it was taken care of.”

Bock said she’s been treasurer for seven years. “Rob is our accountant,” she said referring to Gottschalk. “I take care of the bills.”

She said Gottschalk handles all the money from the fair, counts the cash and deposits it in the bank. “I get the deposit slip and write out the checks to pay the bills,” she said.

“What comes in from the fair we have to pay out from the fair,” she said. “Anyone who asks can see the checks I write,” Bock added.

“We never see a balance sheet or profit and loss statement,” Mielnicki said.

Fellow longtime board member Fran Alec, who served as president in 1995, agreed.

“It’s hard to explain how the organization is run,” she said. “You never get straight answers. We worry about what happens to the money. Everything is paid for — the mortgage, everything. What happens to the money? I don’t know.”

She said Bock is “just a figurehead.”

Bock confirmed today that the board “never gets a balance sheet.”

But she disputes that the organization doesn’t give back to the community. She cited a December Christmas party for children and a dinner given for the volunteers who work the fair as examples of what the group does.

“I don’t know what they do with the money besides throw themselves parties,” Mielnicki said. He claimed the group had a shriveling membership and is only concerned with itself.

“Every suggestion I made for doing something for the community, it was always shot down,” Mielnicki said.

“The only thing I got them to agree to was raising our scholarship from $500 to $1,000,” he said. Even then, it was a fight. “I was told by one board member that charity begins at home.”

“It was very frustrating,” he said, “so I resigned.”