Folding Unit

[nldscout]

Regardless of nationals or councils rules or even a CO's wishes, what happens to the assests is greatly dependant upon the laws of the state that you are in. In some state a scout troop is an unincorporated entity and can own assests on its own.

 

Here in NY, the ownership of a units trailers and boats is clearly dependant on who's name is on the title. Ours says Troop XX, not the council or the CO.

 

Learn your own state laws, as they differ tremendously

[evmori]

It's a non-issue. One must wonder the purpose in starting such a topic. Surely it was not to get an answer.

 

That was a useful answer! Thanks so much for the contribution!

[Stosh]

The name on the title, certificate, etc. is valid only as long as the unit exists. If the unit ceases to exist (which is the focus of the thread) then all bets are off. If John Smith dies, who owns his assets? If the unit folds, who owns the assets? The title, certificate, etc. expire at the "death" of a unit.

 

Stosh

[LongHaul]

nldscout,

        I agree that laws differ from state to state however unless things are drastically different in NY a troop must seek unicorperated status. As for your troop trailer saying TroopXX is there not also a requirement for address and some sort of identification to be used to locate the owner in cases of liability? In Illinois we use SS#s and Drivers license numbers. Our troop trailer was registered to troop XX but had my address and the license plate registration carried my Drivers licence number. Unless the unit is self chartered, at least in Illinois, it can't own property or obtain insurance for property. If your trailer was parked at a State Park and it blew up injuring someone who would end up before the court?

LongHaul

[nldscout]

We have a comercial insurance policy in the troops name.

 

The reason nationals rules are so vague is because of all the various venue's that BSA operates in. Like I said ask an attorney about your state rules

 

[Scouting Mom]

The assets belong to the CO, however in most cases they are encouraged by the DE, the Council or whatever powers that be, to release the assets either to the unit or units the scouts are going to, or to some other part of BSA, such as the Council. Good public relations being more important than a few tents and a relatively small bank account, the CO will usually agree.

 

I know of a unit who wanted to fold for lack of membership, having only the bare minimum of scouts and too few leaders. The individuals who stayed with it wanted to join a neighboring unit. Council didn't want them to fold without a chance to have another round of recruiting drives. The unit leaders who were left were determined...so was Council. All of a sudden the COR calls up the the CC and informs him that if they try to disband, the CO will retain all funds...the unit still exists. They expect to run out of money over the summer and join the other unit.

 

Another unit was butting heads with their COR and after several attempts to reconcile, they tried to move to another COR. Knowing the history of the bad relationship between the unit and the COR, the same DE and council as in the above situation asked the CO to release the funds and let them go...the difference being, there wasn't going to be a loss of a unit or a loss of scouts. The same people were forming a whole new unit with a new COR.

[SSScout]

Cub Pack has lack of membership. CC and CM and PTreas and only DL beat bushes for new members. Remaining parents see the headlights coming over the hill. No one wants to be the new CC and CM. CO is a "CO of Convenience". Parents make plans, T/F to other units. CP has no fund raising for two years, has really nice catered B&G, Web crossover, sends Webs to summer camp almost free, Cubs to CSDC almost free. When CM and CC resign (boys moving on), no one will take up the reins, unit desolves. DE beats bushes to no avail. DC has PFlag and supplies and PWD track. Treasury was about $50 at the end. CO said "eh" and funds went to Council.

[Gold Winger]

Sounds almost like my son's pack. It was dying but had well over $5,000 in the treasury. The committee decided that the boys who had raised over 90% of the funds were crossing over and they pack would be down to one small den that only had one more year. B&G was great. EVERYONE got free summer camp. Crossover fees were paid. There was still ove $2,000 left for the last den to play with before the pack vanished into the mist.

[Beagle Scout]

I admit I don't know much about troop finances, but I don't understand how a pack can build up a treasury of several thousand dollars. The pack my sons are in sells a lot of popcorn, but it is our committee's philosophy that all the proceeds should be spent on the boys in the year it is earned. Last year the pack sold $23,000 of popcorn, adding almost $8000 to our account. The pack immediately gave $2500 back to the boys in popcorn sale incentives including summer camp registrations. The rest pays for things like leader registrations, leader training, Boy's Life subscriptions, pinewood derby cars, all awards, a private party and BBQ at a local water park, and our annual pack campout at the Scout reservation. By next year's sale we will only have about $500 left.

 

[Gunny2862]

Wow!

 

 

 

 

Our budget this year is less than 3,000.00

What is your fee structure? Or does Popcorn fund it all?

Or maybe we're just economically depressed more than I thought.

[Beagle Scout]

We don't annual fees other than the $10 registration that goes to National. Scouts are responsible for purchasing their own uniforms and books. Everything else is paid for out of the popcorn profits as described above.

 

We have not always had as much success with the popcorn sale. Four years ago, we only sold $2900, but each year since we have increased our sales to the point we are at now. Even back then, we did not have annual fees. We just tailor our program to the funds available to us. Obviously, the families have seen how much more fun they can have when the pack has more money, so they support the popcorn sale more now.

 

Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread. Please spin off a new thread if you want to discuss this further.