The Emporia Recreation Commission will be returning just over $500,000 to the Federal government following action by ERC members Tuesday.
Following a brief executive session as part of a special meeting agenda, the ERC voted to send back the better than $500,000 in federal employee tax credits, which the ERC applied for and was granted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emporia Rec Director Amanda Gutierrez made it clear that the return of funds was not due to any illegal actions or violations of protocol; it was simply a misunderstanding that developed during the pandemic.
Gutierrez also stated the tax credits did make the ERC’s 2026 budget look a bit more “bloated” than it truly was, only because the credits had to be reflected in the budget; however, those dollars had never been earmarked for any operational expenses or projects and thus will have no negative financial impacts on operations over the next year.
The better than $500,000 is just a portion of more than $700,000 in tax credits originally allocated, as Gutierrez noted they were awarded credits for three quarters of 2020 and three quarters of 2021. The ERC was informed that they had not qualified for the 2020 fiscal year and had already paid back the sum for that year.
While they had not yet received any notice from the IRS for the 2021 dollars, Gutierrez says the ERC was simply being proactive, noting that if they didn’t qualify for 2020, it was highly unlikely they would have qualified for 2021.
