Runey Disputes Azar's Claims about D-R IRS Fines

Dighton-Rehoboth School Superintendent Bill Runey disputed claims made by former Superintendent Anthony Azar regarding fines issued to the district by the Internal Revenue Service. Azar said no fines were issued.

Runey provided the Reporter with minutes of the September 28, 2021 school committee meeting, when school business administrator Robert Baxter acknowledged penalties by the IRS. Baxter noted they dated back to the Affordable Care Act in 2016/2017. "The penalty is a result of the fact that we did comply with sending out the 1095 forms to employees although the 1094 forms were not sent to the IRS in error. Mr. (Paul) Kitchen was working on reducing the penalty cost."

The FY'22 fiscal report from Baxter referenced the abatement of the 2016 penalty: "This will un-encumber approximately $318,000 which we hope to apply to the boiler room cleanup in FY22. Completing the clean up earlier than expected will provide a favorable budgetary impact for future years. We will now begin the process for the 2017 penalty."

“The two fines were $320,000 per year,” Runey said March 23. “Our business administrator, Robert Baxter, and his predecessor worked with the IRS on corrective actions, and we were given a 50 percent abatement, leaving a balance of $320,000. That money has been encumbered for the past few years, therefore, it is not an expenditure for FY’24. We are waiting to see if the IRS will abate any portion of the remaining $320,000.”

“The reason why we discussed it in our budget presentation was to demonstrate how we have several operational deficiencies,” Runey continued. “This is a symptom similar to what we listed regarding the threat from the state to withhold Chapter 70 funding until annual audits were submitted.”