A Fight To Save The Historic West Side Community Center
Embattled 75-year-old Nonprofit Looks To Add New Board Members & Fundraise In Face Of Property Tax Appeal, Municipal Court Hearing, & Looming Foreclosure
The fight to restore the embattled West Side Community Center advanced last week when a group, identifying themselves as the Committee to Save the West Side Community Center, called for an investigation and immediate appointment of a receiver to take on temporary control of the DeWitt Avenue nonprofit. The 27-page letter and report, dated Dec 1 and signed by Shonda Neal and Beverly Holland, both of Neptune, and Jesse Ricks of Asbury Park, was sent to state, county, and local law enforcement and governing agencies.
“I have not seen any growth in the West Side Community Center for years,” Jesse Ricks said. “The Center is very historic on the west side and to Asbury Park. I would hate to see it fall apart.”
Ricks is a long time city resident, whose now deceased husband Bobby [a city native] served as a volunteer for many years. She signed her name to the document because of a need to not only save the failing institution but to also achieve transparency.
“They are not giving the community an assessment of their finances,” she said. “There are [charitable] organizations that were once contributing the the Center that are no longer contributing because they lost their 501(c)(3) status,” making them a unrecognized IRS tax exempt organization.
“This is an organization that Bruce Springsteen once donated a van to and the United Way was heavily involved,” Ricks said. “In the past, the WSCC offered so much and I am not aware of any programs being offered now. A huge part of the City’s history would be lost.”
The West Side Community Center [WSCC] was founded in 1942 through the efforts of the Asbury Park Urban League, a group of concerned citizens of various races and creeds, according to a report by Kim Fellenz, a former board president who now lives in the Wayside section of Ocean Township. For decades, the 75-year-old organization was the hub of recreational, social and cultural activity, offering job training, drum and bugle corps, marching drill teams, boy and girl scout troops, bible study, after school programming, tutorials, daycare, computer literacy, dance, and community talent shows, to name a few.
While Fellenz would not admit to crafting the letter, he did say he’s been working with the signatories for the past month and that the correspondence included a report he compiled.
“Five years ago I put together a group to try to help save the Center,” said Fellenz who served on the Board and as its president from 1983 to 98. “We were effectively rebuffed when we tried to put together a volunteer base.”
Fellenz said the group decided to move forward last month when calls to the Board were once again unanswered.
“The bottom line is how many generation of kids have gone without the benefits of programs to keep them off the streets,” Fellenz said. “There is no reason why we shouldn’t have summer camp and year activity for these children.”
Fellenz also said, while there were only three names signed to the correspondence, there is a team of 20 people behind the campaign, who either attended the WSCC in their youth, volunteered, or served on its board.
“It’s a dysfunctional organization,” he said. “It’s absurd that they have been operating without the 501(c)(3) status and it’s all because they will not provide any financials or audits.”
But, WSCC Board President and Executive Director Lori Ross said the letter is little more than a campaign to smear their good name.
“We are, in fact, correcting our deficiencies,” Ross said. “No agency or individuals should have to defend themselves for funding and supporting programming for children and families where so few have stepped up.”
Ross maintains that although they are operating without a 501(c)(3), they are operating as a nonprofit.
“We have had other state funding,” she said before clarifying that no funding has been received in the past two years. “We met with the governing body to work together. This is a continued effort to go after me even though we have begged for help. As we have said before, we are willing to work with anyone.”
City Manager Michael Capabianco said he met with Ross on a quarterly basis shortly after he began working for the municipality but those meetings stalled when no progress was made after a year and a half.
In the past year, the 75-year-old organization has been in a fight to restore its 501(c)(3) status and filed a tax appeal against the City for taking them off the property tax exempt list. New board members were courted, a workforce develop program was administered, and special events continued through summer’s end.
“The real tragedy is that the women who signed their names to this letter, who in fact never contacted anyone associated with the WSCC, have stood on the sidelines for years with all too many and now throw stones at a group of volunteers who have selflessly volunteered to help the children in this community; instead of rolling up their own sleeves with us to give their time, talent or money,” Ross said.
The Non Profit Status:
Tax Assessor Erick Aguiar said he discovered the West Side Community Center’s 501(c)(3) status was no longer up to date in 2014.
“By the time I began my investigation in late 2014, I had already submitted my 2015 assessments (with them as exempt),” Aguiar said. “I filed an appeal against my own assessment and eventually withdrew it while putting them on notice on what they need to do to remain exempt starting 2016. They did not comply with what the law requires and I removed the exemption. They had almost a full year between being put on notice and me removing the exemption.”
They lost the property tax exempt status in 2016.
“To have the property exempt from taxes they need to actually be a nonprofit and actually operate the property for the charitable use in which the entity is incorporated,” Aguiar said. “As the assessor, I don’t have any discretion to “work with” an entity that is legally not eligible for the exemption. They are either eligible or they are not. In the WSCC’s case, they were unable to legitimately display they were a nonprofit. They also were unable to legitimately display that they were predominantly using the property for the charitable use, which they claimed.”
While a nonprofit does not need the federally recognized tax exemption to operate, it is universally used to qualify for property taxes exemption, Aguiar has said. And without the submission of audit and financial accounting, the municipality had no way of verifying the WSCC claim that it is operating as a charitable organization.
Aguiar said he telephoned the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services to investigate the WSCC claim that the state agency’s certification allowed them to operate as a nonprofit. The certification is little more than an online application filing and the payment of a $25 fee, he said. No financial audit is conducted and no income or expense requirements are attached, all of which are needed to qualify for the property tax exemption.
In December 2016 the property fell on the municipal tax lien sales list and was purchased by the municipality, according to city’s tax office. To date, the total tax due is $24,049.35, which includes $3,175.05 in interest.
And while a lien holder typically has to wait two years before commencing with foreclosure proceedings, the municipality is only required to wait six months, department officials said. The WSCC would have to cure the debt within that time period.
Pending Tax Appeal Case:
While 2016 and 2017 property taxes are due on the property, the current Tax Appeal Case before Judge Mala Sundar in Trenton addresses the 2016 tax year only, Aguiar said.
Two days of hearings were held during the summer and attorneys for both sides submitted post trial briefs in November. Sundar’s decision is pending.
Capabianco said if the WSCC loses the tax appeal case it would not open the door for a redeveloper to purchase the property, as many fear.
“We would have to sell the certification,” he said. “That is not going to happen. It’s also not easy for a developer to come in a buy it because they would have to buy [the WSCC] debts.
A Stall In Funding:
A grant in the amount of $100,000 was awarded by Oceans Inc in 2014.
United Way CEO Tim Hearne said no grants have been awarded to the WSCC in the past 10 years.
According to city records, the WSCC received a $67,770 Community Development Block Grant in 2012 for bathroom renovations, and $27,525 in 2015 for a boiler system. Those grants are awarded by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD].
In 2016, a new CDBG application was denied.
In May, HUD officials were denied access when they tried to conduct an onsite monitoring for the 2015 award and found that program activity was deficient, according to a July 14 letter to the City.
The Property & Programming:
The West Side Community Center owns its two buildings and two parcels of vacant land, currently assessed at a total of $1,038,900.
Aguiar said he personally conducted 50 to 100 site visits at various days and times since 2015; never witnessing any activity or programming. In February 2016, Aguiar received a list of programming, according to city records. But repeated visits to the facility during the dates and times outlined in that report showed no activity, locked doors and an empty parking lot.
The building’s interior was last inspected by City officials on Dec 15, 2016, following many attempts to gain access and validate a list of programs given to the municipality, according to the report.
On Thursday, a municipal court hearing is scheduled to obtain an order that will allow fire and code enforcement officials to inspect the property.
The municipal case was launched after testimony in the tax appeal case raised concern about the building and its operations, which included a construction company and a weekly church service, according to court documents.
Code Enforcement Director Rob McKeon said visits by code and fire safety officials did not result in access to the property’s interior, prompting the failure to allow access and a failure to clean an maintain the outside of the property summonses.
Long Branch resident Curtis Moreland said he serves as the organization’s facility manager and has been a volunteer for over 3 years.
“Five years ago I had an office there but that was for my entertainment company,” he said. “I never had an office here for my contracting business.”
Moreland said he now runs his From Jersey With Love nonprofit, along with Quadai Palmer and Cherrelle Rainey, from the site in exchange for overseeing the upkeep of the building. Both he and Ross confirmed that no programs are currently being administered.
“We are now going through every inch of the building to determine the physical repairs that will be needed,” he said. “There are some site issues that need to addressed, after that we can talk about programming.”
Moreland said the last time the venue hosted a special event was in the summer. Those events draw anywhere from $100 to $1,000 in revenue,which is then used to pay the bills, Ross said.
Both he and Ross confirmed weekly Sunday church services are being held by Rev. Antonios Thigpen’s Pillars of Harvest Ministries at the site.
Moreland said his nonprofit has assumed responsibility for administration of building.
“We are not paying to occupy the site,” he said. “They have given us the space in kind for the work that we are doing. In the very near future when it turns around we will by paying but there are costs associated with keeping this building open and we are taking on those costs.”
What’s been done & what’s needed:
The From Jersey With Love nonprofit is in the process of obtaining its 501(c)(3) status, Moreland said. To date new bathrooms were installed in the gym and a hot water heater was purchased.
“We’ve been doing all the land upkeep, cutting grass, collecting leaves and snow removal,” Moreland said. “This summer we ran a workforce development program for those who had to do community service hours.”
Moreland said program participants did administrative work as well as cleaning and other upkeep tasks associated with the building’s maintenance.
“The property has been in such helplessness,” he said. “It’s been tough to try to keep up but I am utilizing my connections, from being in the entertainment business for 25 years.”
He said they have received donations for office supplies and materials.
They are working to fund needed roof repairs on both buildings and have obtained an at cost figure for the replacement of the facility’s 33 windows. Also on the list are new LED lights, tree service, new gutters, handrails, front doors, toilets and vanities for remaining bathrooms. There is also a need for a new heating and cooling system in the gym, new basketball courts and flooring.
“It’s not a secret, everyone knows the challenges and about the court battle,” Moreland said. “At the end of the day, this west side needs something not only for the neighborhood but for the community as a whole. The redevelopment of the west side is a key redevelopment and this center is going to key in the redevelopment of the west side. The crucial point is that the world is not making any more land. What is here, is here, and this building, where it is located, is in the heart of that redevelopment zone. It’s a vital piece of property and land and it needs to be used for the community.”
Ross said the Board has been working with no less than three pro bono attorneys. She said the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services nonprofit certification is up to date and they are waiting to file a 501(c)(3) application until they have officially added three potential members to the existing five member Board.
“We have had many tax liens and we have always satisfied them,” she said. “We are adding new board members in order to help us fundraise.”
Ross said while she is not to required to provide an audit, under state guidelines, she would turn over an accounting of the WSCC finances to anyone who asked.
“Yes, absolutely,” she said. “Even the City, they have our bank statements. I understand the community’s desire to see the West Side Community Center flourish and we are looking for folks who would step up and help.”
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