Attach to Form 990 or 990-EZ.| Identifier | Return Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| FORM 990 REVIEW | FORM 990, Part VI, Section A, line 10 | The Western Growers Assurance Trust Board of Trustees and the Western Growers Compensation Committee review certain parts of Form 990. The organization's CFO works closely with the outside tax firm it engages to prepare and review the Form 990 return prior to submitting a draft to the Trustees or the Western Growers Compensation Committee. |
| WRITTEN CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY | FORM 990, Part VI, Section B, line 12c | The Board is charged with monitoring proposed or ongoing transactions for conflicts of interest and addressing any potential or actual conflicts. Pursuant to the Conflicts of Interest Policy, an annual conflict of interest questionnaire, aimed at determining any family and business relationships and transactions or other transactions that may pose a potential conflict, is distributed to all covered persons (i.e., board members, officers and executive leadership or key employees). Covered persons are required to disclose real or potential conflicts at the time when such conflicts arise. When someone becomes a covered person and annually thereafter, each covered person is required to sign a statement affirming that he/she: (1) has received a copy of the Conflicts or Interest Policy; (2) has read the Policy and understands said Policy; and (3) agrees to comply with all requirements of the Policy, including completing the conflicts of interest acknowledgement and disclosure form. The Board of Trustees has directed In-house counsel to review the completed forms to assess whether any persons with actual or potential conflicts are informed via written communication. The procedures for addressing any conflict of interest includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1) the conflicting interest is fully disclosed to the Board; (2) the interested person responds to factual questions related to the substance of the transaction or arrangement being considered, after which he/she shall leave the meeting; (3) the person with the conflict of interest is excluded from the discussion and approval of such transaction; (4) alternatives to the proposed transaction are investigated, competitive bids or comparable valuations are obtained; and (6) the transaction or action must be approved by a majority of disinterested persons. |
| PROCESS FOR DETERMINING COMPENSATION | FORM 990, Part VI, Section B, line 15B | The Board appoints a Compensation Committee, comprised solely of independent directors, none of which have a conflict of interest with respect to the compensation arrangement, to be accountable for setting reasonable compensation packages for the CEO. The Compensation Committee reviews and approves the annual performance goals and criteria to be used in determining incentive compensation criteria for the CEO. The Compensation Committee also may hire a qualified independent compensation and benefits specialist (independent expert) to review, analyze and provide benchmarking data for the total compensation and benefits packages of the CEO. Appropriate comparability data is obtained from the independent experts, i.e., total economic benefits paid by similarly situated organizations (both taxable and tax-exempt) for similar job responsibilities. The CEO's compensation is based on an employement agreement. The last approval process was determined in 2006 and the base pay WAS constant in the subsequent years. The discussions the committee has each year concerns the CEO's incentive compensation and the annual goals that were previously established are measured and assessed to determine the total INCENTIVE compensation awarded each year. Certain key deliberations of the Committee are also documented in minutes, and supporting records are maintained by the Western Growers' Human Resources officer. Concerning other company officers and key employee's, the CEO along with Human Resources oversees the process and also relies on the same independent expert to determine the reasonableness of the compensation of these employees. |
| INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC | FORM 990, Part VI, Section C, line 19 | While federal tax laws do not mandate that the organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements be made available for public inspection, the organization makes these documents available upon request. |
| EXPLANATION FOR OTHER CHANGES IN NET ASSETS | FORM 990, PART XI, LINE 5 | OTHER CHANGES IN NET ASSETS DUE TO: UNREALIZED GAINS ON INVESTMENTS $595,923 CHANGE IN ACTUARIAL PLAN BENEFIT OBLIGATIONS ($557,186) ----------- TOTAL $38,737 |
| HOURS DEVOTED FOR RELATED ORGANIZATION | FORM 990 PART VII | NAME:THOMAS A NASSIF TITLE:PRESIDENT/ceo HOURS:20 |
| HOURS DEVOTED FOR RELATED ORGANIZATION | FORM 990 PART VII | NAME:WARD W KENNEDY TITLE:senior vice president/ CFO HOURS:26 |
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