May Recap – TBN’s Allegedly Lavish Spending, Sandusky Charity to Close, and PILOTs in Providence

In the rush of end-of-term exam writing and grading, a couple of prominent nonprofit stories did not get covered during the past month:

• NY Times Reports on Allegedly Lavish Spending by TBN:  Brought to light by an intra-family dispute, the article reports that the founders of Trinity Broadcasting Network, Paul and Janice Crouch, and some of their close family members have lived allegedly lived lavish lifestyles for decades in large part on TBN’s dime.  Reported perks include multiple vacation homes, multi-million dollar corporate jets, thousand-dollar dinners, and lucrative deals with a company owned by family members. TBN, which is governed by a board of directors consisting only of the Crouches and one of their sons, denied through its lawyer any claims that the spending and other alleged activities were illegal or improper.

• Sandusky Charity to Close:  The Associated Press reports that the beleagured Second Mile charity is seeking court approval to shut down and move its programs to another organization.  The LA Times elaborates that the recipient group is Arrow Child & Family Ministries of Houston, which like Second Mile focuses on helping at-risk children and their families.  The not unexpected announcement is driven by the anticipated lack of future financial and other support for Second Mile, according to an announcement by the charity.  See previous blog coverage of Second Mile.

• Providence Announces Brown University to Pay $31.5 Million PILOT:  After years of contention (see previous blog coverage of Providence’s challenge to Brown and Brown’s position), the Mayor of Providence announced earlier this month that Brown will pay an additional $31.5 million over 11 years to the city.  The city in turn will abandon certain streets immediately adjacent to campus and provide 250 non-exclusive parking permits for certain other streets near campus.

LHM