Trenton mayor talks about his non-profit’s taxexempt status
TRENTON» Mayor Eric Jackson admits his nonprofit losing its tax-exempt status “without a doubt” looks bad.
In a phone interview Friday, Jackson explained why his organization, Moving Trenton Together, failed to submit tax returns to the IRS for three consecutive years, leading the Internal Revenue Service to strip the nonprofit of its status.
“With the filing, you get an initial couple years to file it,” the first-term mayor said. “We had attempted to do it internally. There were some errors with it. It came back rejected and we didn’t get it back timely. Now, I have a certified public accountant (CPA) group that’s working on it as we speak to get it done so I can get my reinstatement. We’re curing that now.”
The first-term mayor launched his nonprofit in 2014.
With the nonprofit’s funding, Jackson brought “American Idol” winner Ruben Studdard and New Edition’s Johnny Gill to perform in Trenton at his “Christmas in the Capital City,” which is a free event for residents to attend.
Jackson wanted to make clear numerous times on Friday that “there’s not any improprieties” with his nonprofit.
“It’s not any question of improprieties but it’s a question of timely filing, and we’re not timely into filing,” the first-term mayor said. “It’s a compliance issue. That’s really what it comes down to.”
Speaking on Moving Trenton Together’s finances, Jackson said he has all documentation “to the dollar.”
“It’s on a form that was completed wrong and we are putting it in the hands of people who do this all the time so that they can do it correctly for us and get us back on the right path,” the mayor said. “You can clearly see where the funds go.”
Annually, Jackson said Moving Trenton Together brought in “$20-something thousand.” Much of that money is used to put on his big Christmas concert held at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial.
According to invoices obtained by The Trentonian through a public records request, Moving Trenton Together spent $10,060 total in expenses for renting Patriots Theater and providing security and State Police presence at the three Christmas events held annually since 2014. The first check for a $1,000 deposit in October 2014 appears to have come straight from the mayor’s check account, documents show. All checks after that were paid to the order of the state treasurer from Moving Trenton Together.
For music acts, Jackson said the nonprofit has spent anywhere from $10,000 to $12,000 a year.
The nonprofit raised funds by holding hosting Christmas soirees. Last year, a Moving Trenton Together fundraiser at Rho Waterfront Night Club was charging $60 per person.
Mayoral aide Andrew Bobbitt was listed as a ticket contact for the extravaganza, a poster for the event shows.
Jackson said he also sent out letters in the fall to ask for donations.
Nonprofits run by politicians has led to jail time for some officials. Generally, money would circulate from the nonprofit to the politician’s campaign.
However, Jackson said he does not “intertwine the two.” “There’s no $1 political dollars,” Jackson said of his nonprofit’s cash flow. “Receipts for the dollars in, receipts for the dollars out.”
Any surplus money collected annually, Jackson said he gave away as donations to nonprofits, through scholarships or to help fund pageantries or ads to enhance local organizations.
A portion of the proceeds from previous Christmas events benefitted Trenton YMCA, HomeFront and Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.
“Those dollars go directly there to funds it for our community,” Jackson said. “We’re doing some good work.”
Jackson’s adventure into forming a nonprofit is not the first time a Trenton mayor has taken that step.
Jackson’s predecessor, Tony Mack, launched the Tony Mack Cares Foundation. But like Jackson, Mack, who is currently serving a prison sentence on federal corruption charges, had his nonprofit’s tax-exempt status taken away as well in May 2010, online records show.
Jackson looks to correct his filing matters with the IRS.
“It’s important work that we want to continue to do as soon as we get rectified with our compliance matters,” Jackson said, adding the nonprofit will be back at it again. “But no activity until we get it rectified.”