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Town Hall Meeting The Town Hall Meeting was held as an open forum for discussion among members and the board of directors. The following are questions/issues which were raised by members. 1) The legal status of the organization as a non-profit was not adequately addressed in the BMW Owners News. The Missouri sales tax issue was not communicated to members. Why did it happen and what was the result? Answer: In the mid-1990s the IRS began an investigation of membership association’s non-member income. For BMW MOA the rally income and magazine advertising income. The BMW MOA owed back taxes on this type of income. Just last year, due to the efforts of our lawyers, the BMW MOA received a refund of approximately $23,000. Vigilance in regard to this sort of thing will be required of our new Executive Director. 2) Because new riders are always entering the sport, the magazine should print 'back to basics' articles to help newcomers. Answer: Sandy Cohen, BMW Owners News editor was present and responded that she is always looking for content suggestions. 3) Why is distribution of the board meeting minutes delayed until after the next board meeting? This is too long. Answer: The board does not wish for 35,000 copies (in the magazine) of the minutes to be in circulation if they contain inaccuracies. The process is for a summary of the board meeting to be prepared and distributed to ambassador liaison, club coordinator and posted on the website. In most cases the summary does not differ from the full minutes in regard to conducted business. After the board meeting minutes are approved, they are posted to the website and sent to ambassador liaison and to club coordinator for distribution. 4) Some dealers view MOA indifferently, or even with distaste. What can MOA do to change that? Answer: Relationships between MOA and dealers is determined by the relationship between members and those dealers; clubs and ambassadors can also help. 5) Can MOA offer a one-year membership to each non-member who purchases a bike? Answer: The last board set the goal of increasing membership and this board has continued that goal. In the future, a possible new Membership or Marketing committee will address the issue. Currently, some dealers offer a one-year MOA membership with the purchase of a new bike, but that is a dealer decision. 6) What do dealers receive in the way of MOA promotional materials? Answer: Dealers receive a stack of membership brochures and a plastic tabletop brochures holder. This replaces the old style cardboard poster with attached, tear-off membership forms. 7) Is there still an insurance discount available to members, and if not, what happened to it? Answer: The insurance discount was available through The May Agency, but that agency has transferred the program to Progressive Insurance to handle directly. A new possibility for member insurance was presented at the rally board meeting. The issue will be addressed at the fall board meeting. 8) Former boards have been chastised for excessive executive sessions. This board is doing the same thing. Why? Answer: Personnel matters, future rally sites, and sensitive appointments or awards such as Ambassador or Distinguished Service are discussed in executive session. Any executive session business or decision that can be announced is put in the minutes of the open session. 9) Why aren’t there any Metzeler tires available on the rally grounds? Answer: An effort was made to get them but there was apparently an inventory problem. A member of the audience suggested that, in the future, the rally organizers contact suppliers ahead of time to ensure that enough Metzeler tires are in stock. The 2001 National Rally date and location: Redmond, OR, July 19-22 was announced. |
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