Attach to Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Information about Schedule O (Form 990 or 990-EZ) and its instructions is at| Return Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, line 2 | Lynette Nieuwsma and Murl Nord have a business relationship as they serve on a similar board of a taxable entity. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, line 6 | Beltrami Electric Cooperative is composed of members. There is only one class of members of which each member is entitled to one vote. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, line 7a | Members elect the Board of Directors. There are nine different districts and each district has one board member seat. The members have voting rights in each of the nine districts. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, line 7b | Certain decisions, such as making changes in the Bylaws and entering into a merger, would require the approval of members. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section A, line 8b | The Policy Committee and Union Negotiation Committees make recommendations to the full board and only the full board can approve the recommendations. The committees do not have authority to act on behalf of the full Board of Directors and they do not keep minutes. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 11 | The General Manager and Director of Finance & Member Services reviewed a draft of the Form 990. The approved Form 990 was presented at the May 2014 board meeting for final approval prior to it being filed. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 12c | There is a separate conflict of interest policy for the Board of Directors in addition to the general conflict of interest policy for all of employees. They are reviewed annually by the Board of Directors. In regards to employees, each department is responsible to ensure compliance. If an employee willfully takes part in a conflict of interest transaction disciplinary action will be taken. In regards to the Board of Directors, if a conflict of interest is identified, the board member no longer meets the qualifications to be a member of the board. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, line 15a | Annually the Board of Directors discusses the performance of the General Manager and has an executive session with the manager based on that discussion. The board chairman receives feedback in advance of the meeting, sometimes through the co-op attorney provided form and in other years through a more informal process. In 2012, the board approved a three year planned compensation for the General Manger. The General Manager is the only Cooperative employee who the Board appraises or sets a specific salary for. The board approves a set dollar amount to be discretionary by the General Manager for use for non-union employee compensation. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section C, line 19 | The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public upon request. |
| Form 990, Part VII, Section A, Column (F): | Compensation of Officers- Included in column "f", estimated amount of other compensation, is the estimated annual increase in the actuarial value of the defined benefit plan. The estimated increase for Lynette Nieuwsma is $110,408, $55,541 for Sid Sletten, $17,736 for Richard Riewer, $40,065 for Daniel Edens, and $39,616 for Sam Mason. These amounts are estimates in the increase of the value of the plan and are not current year expenses of the cooperative. The current year expense for this defined benefit plan was $61,745, $34,921, $38,902, $35,764, and $35,764 respectively. |
| Form 990, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses, Line 24e: | Allocated Wages & Benefit Costs- The labor, pension and payroll taxes reported on lines 5-10 are already included in distribution expense, administrative & general expense and customer expense. Therefore, these amounts are being subtracted out as an other deduction on line 24e in the amount of $(5,875,819). |
| Form 990, Part IX, Statement of Functional Expenses, Line 4: | Benefits Paid To Members- The Cooperative has interpreted the instructions to Part IX, Line 4, to mean patronage capital allocated for the year, rather than patronage capital retired. This is consistent with the Bylaws of the Cooperative. |
| Form 990, Part XI, line 9: | Increase in Memberships 7,175. Recognize FAS 106 Transition Obligation -4,385. Retirement of Capital Credits -934,084. Cooperative Development LLC Book Income 328,709. Northern Safety and Security Book Income 17,106. Cooperative Development LLC Tax Income -397,085. Northern Safety and Security Tax Income -15,022. Patronage Capital Credits Allocated During Current Year 1,310,406. |
| Software ID: | |
| Software Version: |