Title: Transferring stewardship of the CMTC Escrow Account to NWTRCC
From: Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia
Contacts: Geov Parrish and Carolyn Stevens
Background: The Conscience and Military Tax Campaign (CMTC) Escrow Account is, we believe, the largest repository of resisted tax dollars in the United States. As of March 2010, the Escrow Account has 280 account holders from across the U.S., with $490,442.70 in deposits.
The CMTC Escrow Account was founded by several Long Island WTR activists in 1979 as part of an effort to gather 100,000 signatures (the "campaign") pledging to, upon reaching that threshold, withhold federal taxes until passage of what was then called the World Peace Tax Fund bill.
By the mid-1980s, the signature drive stalled out with about 10,000 signatures (impressive, but far short of the stated goal), and the CMTC office moved to Seattle, where a new generation of activists continued to administer the Escrow Account and provide national resources and promotion for war tax resistance.
With the quiet end of the signature drive and the emergence of NWTRCC (of which CMTC is one of the co-founders of) as not simply a network but a national WTR organization in its own right, in the mid-'90s CMTC changed its name to Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia (NACC), and refashioned itself as a local, rather than national, advocate for WTR and peace organizing. However, NACC continues to administer the CMTC Escrow Account, which still has a national constituency.
CMTC Escrow Account holders have full access to their deposits, which generally have been set aside by depositors to be available in case of IRS collection (though we don't ask for any sort of proof of this, and some of our depositors undoubtably simply want to support our program). Depositors remain liable for any interest or penalties. In turn, NACC has invested most of the money in socially responsible CDs, with the balance in checking and savings accounts in a local credit union.
Since 2001, after minimal expenses, NACC has used Escrow Account fund interest income to award small grants (generally about $1000) to grassroots WTR, peace, and social justice groups not often funded by more traditional grantors. In 2009, with lower interest rates, the CMTC funds generated $7,674.24 in income.
Neither CMTC nor NACC have themselves ever filed a tax return or paid taxes on this income. It is also CMTC/NACC policy not to disclose any account information to the IRS, or to cooperate with any collection attempts, without the explicit permission of the account holder. The CMTC Escrow Account has its own Tax ID number (of uncertain provenance...).
In over 30 years, the IRS has never contacted CMTC or NACC about our income; the only contact we have had with the IRS came in a case in the late '80s where the account holder told the IRS where their money was being held, but continued to refuse to pay. CMTC refused cooperation with the IRS, and even though a relative eventually paid the account holder's tax liability (over the account holder's objection!), CMTC in turn was fined $2000 by the IRS for refusing its request for information. We also refused to pay the fine, and no attempt was ever made to collect it. We haven't heard from them since.
The Proposal: After 24 years of overseeing the CMTC Escrow Account in Seattle, NACC members are moving on to other things, and would like to transfer stewardship to other WTR activists.
We think NWTRCC would make the most appropriate home. NWTRCC's office and organizational stability would be important assets in overseeing the account. As the national WTR organization, NWTRCC is a logical home for a fund with a national constituency, and the Escrow Account is consistent with NWTRCC's mission and program of WTR support. The Escrow Account is relatively easy to administer and can provide a significant source of revenue that can be applied to expenses (including, if appropriate, paying for the staff time needed to administer it), existing program, new program(s), and/or a continuation of the NACC grant program, as NWTRCC sees fit.
The biggest responsibility for NWTRCC (or any new home) in administering the Escrow Account is to act as a responsible fiduciary for account holders, including: reinvestment in financial vehicles consistent with WTR beliefs; maintaining account-holder privacy; protecting funds from IRS seizure; timely administration of deposits and redemptions; and promotion of the existence and purpose of the CMTC Escrow Account.
NACC maintains both paper and electronic files for the CMTC Escrow Account. Over the past year, NACC has taken the time-consuming step of converting the electronic records from our antiquated, MS-DOS-era database to a more compatible modern one. However, the time involved in actual administration of Escrow Account activity is minimal, on the order of perhaps five hours a month of correspondence, inquiries, and managing transactions. In 2009, the account recorded only 20 deposits and withdrawals.
The move of the CMTC Escrow Account to NWTRCC (or any new home) would require a transfer of paper (perhaps 3-4 boxes) and electronic files, a possible transfer of funds to new financial institutions (that would be NWTRCC's decision), and notification of account holders. Other CMTC archival material can be either transferred or donated (perhaps to Swarthmore College?) as appropriate.
For the last several years, NACC has maintained the CMTC Escrow Account but not done much to promote or expand it. It's time for new energy. For NWTRCC, we believe this is an exciting opportunity to serve war tax resisters in a new way, add significant revenue for relatively little effort, and ensure a stable, permanent home for the CMTC Escrow Account. We hope you agree.
Respectfully submitted,
Geov Parrish
Carolyn Stevens
Scott McClay
Eddie Tews
for the Nonviolent Action Community of Cascadia
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