Mounted search and rescue

[Una Smith <una.smith@att.net>]

Santa Fe County Sheriff's Posse is a 501(c)(4), apparently due
to an inexpert attorney who misunderstood a point on the IRS
form.  We actually got an IRS determination letter as a 501(c)(3),
and had the attorney request a corrected letter changing the
category to 501(c)(4).  The "corrected" letter did place us in
501(c)(4) but also *denied* us the right to accept deductible
donations.  Even some IRS employees are not familiar with the
special status of 501(c)(4) rescue squads.  We did not request
a further correction, and have been "paying" for it ever since.
In any case, even if we had an IRS determination letter that
did allow us this right, we still could not solicit deductible
donations, because New Mexico recognizes only 501(c)(3)'s as
having this right.

Fixing this problem, ie switching to 501(c)(3), is relatively
easy:  provide a new form, a few hundred dollars filing fee,
and financial statements for the last 3 years.  But for us, it
takes more than a year to get our financial data together for
a given year, so we never quite catch up!  Our membership is
tiny, travels a lot, is widely dispersed, and for a SAR team
our finances are very complex.  Like many old sheriff's posse
groups, ours owns real estate, has a building with utilities,
insurance, contracts, leases, etc.  Others have expressed envy
at our "wealth" but, let me tell you, in most respects it is a
burden.

Bottom line:  it is no faster nor cheaper to go with 501(c)(4),
so don't go there unless you know a really good reason why you
should.

        Una Smith
        New Mexico