Facts and Truth are Not the Same
Truth is subjective, facts are not.
I’m troubled when I see pseudo-journalists and reporters who claim to be writing “the truth.” The truth is subjective even if we like to think that it is absolute, universal, and indisputable. We make the truth, we forge it as we see it or as we want people to see it. A fact is simply a true statement. A true statement is not the same as a statement of truth.
In fact, there are several kinds of truth: objective truth, subjective truth, normative truth, and positive truth. And some have deemed our current time as the “Post-Truth Era.”
The Oxford Dictionaries designated "post-truth" as 2016's Word of the Year, and defines "post-truth" as "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief."
Thus, post-truth has a goal — not to persuade, but to elicit emotions and biases in the audience to gain support. In the past decade, since the financial crisis of 2008, we have seen the rise of post-truth. In accordance with its definition, post-truth rhetoric works because it appeals not to the rational side of the person, but to the emotional side.
Using the linked article above to consider truth and fact, let’s consider if the mayor’s request for a 990 form is, in fact, crossing a line.
In August 2006, Congress passed the Pension Protection Act of 2006. As the name suggests, this particular bill was an overhaul of the US code regarding the operation of large corporate pension funds. Slipped into the bill in conference committee, however, was 393 pages of legislation that have been progressively affecting 501(c)(3) and other tax-exempt entities ever since. One major addition of the PPA was the rule that initiated automatic revocation of the tax exempt status of any nonprofit that fails to file its required Form 990 for three consecutive years.
Form 990 is the mechanism by which the IRS keeps tabs on America’s nonprofits. A private nonprofit’s return eventually becomes public record, and it is a crucial component in the trust and transparency necessary to remain in good standing.
So, what happens then when a private non-profit’s last public record 990 is from 2021 - and it’s currently 2024? What if you are the mayor of the town where this private non-profit is situated? A mayor who has been cut out of talks concerning the water and sewer services of his town? (See also here.) A town where the non-profit has decided to install solar street lights with a two-year warranty for the town to maintain?
What happens when the Deed of Trust for the multi-million dollar property in such a small town is actually a credit line between an investment company in Kentucky, and a private for-profit business — and is managed by a different private for-profit business?
Does the mayor have a right to ask for those 990 forms? YES. Is the shame being dispensed under guise of “truth” appropriate? NO.
In return for being tax-exempt and receiving tax-deductible contributions, Congress requires Section 501(c)(3) organizations to disclose information about their organization to the public. Non profits are required to share the following documents with the public when requested:
• Annual returns for three years after the due date. This includes returns like Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, and any Forms 990-T filed after August 17, 2006, including your extensions.
• All Form 990 schedules (except portions of Schedule B), attachments and supporting documents.
• The organization’s application for exemption and all supporting documents, like Form 1023, if you filed it on or after July 15, 1987.
• And the determination letter from the IRS that shows your organization has tax-exempt status.
Certain documents must be made available immediately, while others can take you some time to gather and reproduce.
I would claim this as “truth,” but the truth is, anyone who has dared to ask or has questions about any of this comes under the attack of some local “truth tellers.”
I prefer to just stick to the facts.