TO: Clark Family Trust Family Members
FROM: Clark Family Trust Secretary
October 24, 2010
Dear Family (especially those 21 and older);
As we give thanks in November for the bounty we each have in our lives, we need to remember the ranch and how it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to ensure that we all retain that lovely ground. To retain the ranch, we have to pay the bills, including the property taxes, which are due very soon.
We all need to step up to our responsibilities and contribute our part, our dues for the year. This simple act means so much. Instead of a burden, you should think of it as an honor and a duty. I do. We all know that it was Grandma and Grandpa’s legacy, their wish and expectation, that the land, the equipment, the cabins, and the other assets be retained by the family, to be enjoyed by generation after generation. It takes all of us to realize that legacy.
The ranch - their legacy - was conveyed as a Trust. As a Trust, it has legal, moral, and ethical connotations. The Board is the leadership of the Trust and we take that responsibility seriously. We have been meeting regularly, setting priorities and establishing processes (including accountability for the finances), and attempting to better communicate. I hope that everyone has been following the ranch activities on the internet through the Clark Family Trust blog site. Things are looking better.
How Much to Pay
As a reminder, the dues for Board Members are $500 per year. Family members 21 years of age and older have dues of $100 per year. The dues are minimums; anyone is welcome to contribute more if they wish to. The Board Members’ dues are really the Board dues for the family group, so if your Board Member is having a hard time coming up with the dues, it is the family group’s responsibility – and opportunity – to help come up with that amount. $500 per year is only $42 per month. Spread out, it is just not that much; in aggregate, it will make a big difference.
Dues responsibility is retroactive to 2008, when the ranch passed in Trust to the family. How much does your family group owe? How much have you paid so far? The difference is what you should pay now. If you can’t pay it all at once, figure out a payment plan and keep with it.
Where to Send Dues
Kiley is now the Treasurer for the Board. Make checks out to Clark Ranch, and send them to Kiley at:
Kiley Theis
624 Sylvan Ct
Kalispell MT 59901
Kiley will keep records of who has paid as she receives your checks. If you want a receipt, please request one.Contribution Hesitation
I have heard from many family members that they are hesitant to contribute because they do not know how the funds are spent. The Board is actively working toward an accounting of past spending and a thorough and transparent presentation to you of current and future spending. Through this, we hope that everyone feels a part of the fiscal operations associated with the ranch. We hope to have the results soon and look forward to sharing those with you.
The simple facts are:
· There is currently not enough money in the ranch checking account to pay the ranch taxes.
· There is not enough money in the ranch checking account to pay current outstanding bills.
· Everyone needs to pay their dues ASAP to help cover the cost of keeping the ranch.
I don’t expect you to do something I’m not willing to do myself. I sent to the Treasurer this week my annual dues of $500, plus the $300 I pay toward the water system for keeping the water flowing to our house on the ranch, as I do every year. Tanner and Micah have also committed to pay their dues, Tanner back to 2008 ($300) and Micah, who just turned 21 this year ($100). They are doing this even though they are living off loans while studying at their universities. (In case you are wondering about ‘Fred and Cindy’s house’, we have been paying our house taxes separately from the ranch for decades.)
Feedback
I welcome any opinions, perspective, corrections, ideas, or any other communications from you. Part of my role, as Secretary and Board Communicator, is to let you know what is going on, but it is also important that I get your feedback on the Board’s activities or anything to do with the ranch operations.
Respectfully,
Uncle Fred
Clark Family Trust Board Secretary
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