Bill > S2977

Introduced Session

This bill would amend the New Jersey "Charitable Registration and Investigation Act" by revising the thresholds of gross revenue amounts received by charitable organizations that determine their annual financial reporting requirements with the Attorney General's office. The bill also would exclude non-monetary in-kind donations directly related to the mission of the charitable organization from gross revenue for the purpose of requiring annual disclosure reports to include a financial statement which has been audited by an independent certified public accountant. In-kind donations would include food for food pantries or food shelters, supplies for shelter, and any other in-kind contributions the Attorney General permits. The bill provides that a charitable organization operating or soliciting within the State which receives annual gross revenue in excess of $500,000 in monetary donations must file with its annual disclosure report a financial statement which has been audited by an independent certified public accountant. The threshold for this audited financial statement requirement under current law is $250,000 of gross revenue, including in-kind donations, or any greater amount that the Attorney General may prescribe by regulation. Regulations adopted by the Attorney General increased the threshold to $500,000 of gross revenue. The regulations also specify that for the purpose of determining if an audit is required, a charitable organization's gross revenue shall not include: one-time bequests, fund raising campaigns for capital property in a single fiscal year, the value of services performed by volunteers, or items purchased by other entities for the use of the charitable organization in situations in which ownership of the item is retained by the original purchaser. The bill would exempt certain non-monetary in-kind contributions from inclusion as gross revenue as well. In addition, the bill makes a corresponding adjustment by providing that organizations that have annual gross revenues in excess of $25,000 and up to $500,000 must file an annual financial report that is certified by the organization's president or other authorized officer. Charitable organizations incur significant expenses associated with providing audited financial statements on an annual basis. These expenses, or some portion of them, could otherwise be used to further the charitable mission of these organizations. The burden of annual financial reporting expenses borne by some charitable organizations may be relieved by increasing the threshold at which organizations must file audited financial statements, and excluding certain non-monetary in-kind contributions from gross revenue.

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Nellie Pou (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee (on 09/24/2018)