BDN speaks with Vollmers about Maine nonprofit’s tax forms
Gloria Vollmers, a professor of accounting at the University of Maine, spoke with the Bangor Daily News for the article, “Maine nonprofit paid disabled workers less than minimum wage, while execs got six figures.” St. Albans-based Skills Inc. is the only employer remaining in Maine that pays some of its workers with disabilities less than the state minimum wage, under a federal law from 1938, the BDN reported. On its tax forms, Skills defines the enterprises where it employs clients, such as thrift stores and a lumber mill, as programs of the nonprofit, which means the organization can funnel any revenue it receives back into its operations, according to the article. Having a sawmill as a program of a nonprofit raised questions for Vollmers, who reviewed information from Skills’ 990 tax forms filed with the IRS, the article states. At issue is whether the sawmill employed enough people with disabilities to warrant it being a nonprofit service. “Where does the gray area end in which you can have a business within a nonprofit and still call it a nonprofit?” she asked. Maine Public also carried the BDN article.