PEABODY — The Park Commission is threatening to deny six youth sports leagues access to Peabody playing fields because they have not been able to verify they are operating as government-sanctioned nonprofit organizations.
The majority of the leagues have also failed to demonstrate that they are properly insured and conducting criminal background checks on all staff, coaches and board members, according to letters the commission mailed last month. The Peabody Youth Girls Softball League, Peabody Flag Football, Peabody Western Little League, Peabody Youth Lacrosse, Peabody Girls Youth Lacrosse and Peabody Pop Warner Football received letters.
"We just want to do it the right way," said Richard Walker, director of Peabody's Parks Recreation and Forestry Department. "We want the organizations that use our facilities to be as compliant as they can be."
The commission grants field-use permits, and its policy is to reserve them exclusively for nonprofit groups, Walker said. The permits allow the leagues to play on the fields for free.
In April 2008, the commission sent an initial letter to youth leagues asking them to show, with documentation from the Internal Revenue Service, the state attorney general's office and the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office, that they are officially recognized 501(c)3 nonprofits. The commission also required that the leagues provide it a certificate of insurance and proof that Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) checks were being performed.
The April letter gave a January 2009 deadline, and the commission sent a follow-up communication in December 2008 to remind leagues of the requirements. The third letter warning them their field use was in jeopardy is dated Nov. 16 of this year.
Three leagues — Peabody Youth Soccer Association, Little Leagues of Peabody and Babe Ruth Baseball — have fully complied, Walker said.
Having leagues operate as certified nonprofits provides a transparent record of how their money is being spent, said Park Commissioner Neal Price, a certified public accountant.
"You should be accountable to somebody, especially if you're taking money from the general public," Price said.
Without verification from the government, the commission can only assume a league is a for-profit enterprise, according to Price.
"If you're not a not-for-profit organization, what are you?" he said.
Ray Forbes, president of the Peabody Youth Girls Softball League, said his league is in the process of filing paperwork to become a nonprofit. It has existed to this point as a "private, recreational girls softball league," he said.
Funding for the league, which has 600 girls, is drawn from registration fees — $60 for ages 7 and 8, $85 for ages 9 to 16 — sponsorships from local businesses and a raffle at the league banquet, Forbes said.
The league is run by volunteers.
"We don't do anything for profit," Forbes said.
The league would be further along in its filing, but, he said, the matter was put on the back burner last spring when an informational meeting for league presidents was contemplated but never held.
'Getting everyone where they should be'
Becoming a nonprofit offers protections to the leagues, Walker said. It could prevent individual board members from being sued, and the annual disclosures should ensure that leagues aren't violating any tax laws, he said.
The commission does not suspect the leagues of anything untoward, Walker said. The impetus for its requirements was advice a representative from the state attorney general's office gave at a seminar he attended.
"The objective is not to keep teams off the fields," Walker said. "It's just an effort to get everyone where they should be."
The six leagues have shown varying levels of compliance:
Neither lacrosse league has returned any information indicating that they are a nonprofit, insured or conducting CORI checks, according to the letters the commission mailed last month.
Peabody Pop Warner said it was part of a national nonprofit but didn't provide evidence it had filed with the state or IRS. The league also didn't submit proof of insurance or verification it is conducting CORI checks, the commission's letter said.
The paperwork Peabody Western Little League filed with the state attorney general in connection to its nonprofit status has not been updated since 2003 and is delinquent, the commission's letter said. The league also hasn't confirmed with the commission that it is doing CORI checks.
Western Little League President John Lepore said yesterday that the league does "extensive" criminal background checks and was, as far as he knew, a 501(c)3 nonprofit. He was confident that the league would satisfy whatever concerns the commission had well in advance of next season.
Peabody Flag Football offered proof of CORI checks and provided a letter from an attorney stating that the necessary paperwork had been filed. It, however, did not submit a certificate of insurance or return the specific records from the state and IRS that the commission is seeking.
The Peabody Youth Girls Softball League is insured and pursuing nonprofit status. But the commission said it hadn't submitted proof of CORI checks.
Forbes said three people affiliated with the league are authorized to execute the checks and that all its personnel are subjected to one. But, given their confidential nature, he wasn't sure how to prove to the commission that they are being completed.
A league must only affirm that the checks are being done and provide documentation showing it has volunteers authorized to perform them, Walker said.
Forbes and Lepore were the only league presidents who could be reached for comment.
Spring leagues submit their requests for fields in February, and the commission issues permits in March, Walker said.
"It's necessary for all of them to comply," commission Chairman James Smerzcynski said. "They should do it. I don't understand why some of them haven't."
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