Are those Carols by Candlelight Hero Tickets Tax Deductible or Not?

Who wouldn't want to help sick children and veterans at the same time?

Steve Vaus invites you to do just that by buying "hero tickets" to be distributed to veterans/ first responders for a performance of his annual shindig called "Carols by Candlelight".  According to the Carols by Candlelight website,  the proceeds from the 2-day event go to Rady Children's Hospital.

That sounds lovely and warm and heart melting, but Steve Vaus is the one who decides how much he and his production company and the other performers are paid before he cuts a check to Rady's. Does he pocket $250,000?  More? Less? Nobody knows. Steve Vaus Productions is a for-profit sole proprietorship, so there is no way to find out just what percent of donations for hero tickets or any other donations actually end up benefitting sick kids.

It is also impossible to find out how many "hero tickets" are sold and/or distributed. Steve Vaus could give away the tickets himself without asking for a $25 ea donation, but that would be $25 less in his pockets.  Although Steve Vaus has prominently posted the 501c3 tax ID number of a nonprofit on his website, stating that the nonprofit, 4 Community Solutions, is doing business as Carols by Candlelight, it turns out that 4CS doesn't handle ALL of the business of Carols by Candlelight, just selected business of CbC.  Exactly what part of the 4CS business the nonprofit handles is a bit squishy.

Recently I received a copy of an email from someone who bought a "hero ticket" to be donated to a veteran. His receipt stated that his donation was not received by  4CS or a Carols by Candlelight account, but by Steve Vaus Productions. Steve Vaus Productions is a sole proprietorship, which means the money ended up in Steve Vaus' pocket.  The man sent an email to Steve Vaus, asking for a tax deductible receipt:

From: name deleted
Date: November 9, 2018 at 3:56:34 PM PST
To: "stevevaus@cox.net" <stevevaus@cox.net>;
Subject: Receipt

Mr. Vaus,

Today I donated to Carrols by Candlelight for the military.  I noticed that the money went to Steve Vaus Productions.  I didn’t get a tax deductible receipt from Candles by Candlelight.  For tax purposes, would you please provide the (tax-deductible) receipt from Candles by Candlelight either via email or by regular mail.  I would appreciate it.  To make it easier to find my donation, here is my purchase number 226562691837576.

Thank You,

name deleted

Steve Vaus quickly responded:

From: Steve Vaus <stevevaus@cox.net>;
Date: November 10, 2018 at 12:02:59 PM PST
To: name deleted
Subject: Re: Receipt

Our office is closed however I saw your email. 

I apologize for any confusion that led you to believe gift tickets are a deductible donation. They are not and there is nothing on our website that indicates otherwise. 

I have issued you a refund. If you have further questions I will be back in the office next Thursday. 

SV

(PS - blame Siri or Spellcheck for any mistakes in this email.)

I checked the Carols by Candlelight website, and sure enough, this little notice is still posted:

Our fiscal agent, 4Community Solutions is a qualified 501(c)(3)
Taxpayer ID# 26-1722021
4Community Solutions – dba Carols by Candlelight
18402 W. Bernardo Drive, San Diego, CA 92127

Don't bother checking 4CS's website for information.  Most of the website has been removed since I called them and asked for some information about their sponsorship of Carols by Candlelight.  None of my questions have been answered.

Yesterday,  someone forwarded another email to me that came from Carols by Candlelight/Steve Vaus. Vaus  clarified (OK, maybe muddied is a more apt description) the tax exempt status of hero ticket purchases:

From: Carols by Candlelight [mailto:stevevaus@cox.net] 
Sent: Friday, November 23, 2018 2:31 PM

I am  wondering how  4CS "doing business as" Carols by Candlelight works.  Because it seems like Steve Vaus Productions is also doing business as Carols by Candlelight.  Can there be two entities doing business as an event at the same time? Does Vaus Productions need to file a fictitious business name for Carols by Candlelight the way 4 Community Solutions did?  Is this a normal business practice to have some donations for the same item go into a nonprofit and others go into a sole proprietorship? Is this a common business model?

If you do plan to buy hero tickets, please note that they are not tax deductible unless you make arrangements with Steve Vaus.

What's Not to be Happy About Poway's Budget Surplus

At last night's city council meeting, the staff presented a report on the closing of the fiscal year, and lo and behold, they have an almost $5 million surplus.  Normally, that would be an occasion for giving a lot of high fives and chest thumping, but I want to take a closer look at a few items before going into celebratory mode.

1.  The City got about $1.5 million more from the RPTTF fund than they had expected. The RPTTF fund is the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund.  When the redevelopment program ended, the property taxes from parcels in the redevelopment area didn't immediately revert back to the normal distribution pattern. The County still collects those property taxes, but they are put into a special pot called the RPTTF fund.  The county assessor first has to pay out a certain amount of money to pay off old redevelopment bonds and other contractual obligations of the old redevelopment agencies, and then, after those are paid, the property taxes are distributed in the same proportion and to the same entities as regular property taxes. 

The proceeds from the sale of redevelopment properties goes into the RPTTF, but mostly it is property taxes. And property taxes are for keeping the City running, for paying for safety services, and salaries of the administrative and legislative department and the city employees who maintain our streets and parks, etc.  Almost all  of the money that the City has "set aside" for the Cafagna center has come from RPTTF funds. In other words, the city is setting property taxes that normal go to fund the general operation of the city and using it for a major building fund. Remember, the city is  charging a big chunk of the departmental operating expenses on to our water and sewer bills as cost allocations. See what is happening? Our water and sewer bills are taxed to pay for the running of the city, which frees up some of our property taxes to be "set aside" to pay to build the Cafagna Center.

2. Because the swimming pool was closed, the City had lower operating costs. I'm sure the City saved on their water bill too. Oh, I forgot, we are paying a part of that bill too. The city has (as of one year ago) begun to pay the raw water costs of water used at city facilities, but water rate payers pay the costs of treating and delivering that water to city facilities. Do we get a bit of that surplus for our share of already paying for treating the water that didn't go into the pool this year?

3. About $820,000 of the surplus was for selling the Big Stone Lodge property to the Poway Housing Authority.  There are several things wrong with this transaction. One, the City bought the Big Stone Lodge property for a park. They told the state they bought it for a park when they submitted their Long-range Property Management Plan. And the State let the City keep the property when redevelopment was dissolved because they bought it for a park. The City could have also kept the property as a site for affordable housing if they had wanted. If they had done that, the City wouldn't have been able to take $820,000 from the housing fund and transfer it to their general fund and use it for the Cafagna Center or to buy down their unfunded pension obligation. Their are three losers on this- south Poway loses a great location for a much needed passive park, the housing fund lost almost a million dollars, and south Poway our riparian corridors are endangered by development. 

I suspect the City wants to find a place for veterans housing, after they bungled the proposal on Twin Peaks. So, now they plan to take a much needed park site from south Poway to compensate. Of course, we will have the opportunity to have some say about this, but really, we don't.  The decisions are made without our input. 

From Poway's Long-range Property Management Plan that was submitted to and approved by the state:

It is going to be difficult to find spots for parks in the future. And there will never be another opportunity to preserve this part of our heritage if the parcel is used for housing.  So, I am not celebrating the almost $5 million surplus. I'm mourning the loss of a great location to build a park and preserve part of our heritage.