Penn State to revise its Right-to-Know filing
June 08, 2010 | Filed in: Right to Know
Law | Open
records
By Bill Schackner | Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
Penn State University said today it plans to submit a revised Right-to-Know report to the state on Friday that will include salaries of two employees left off of the university's initial filing last month.
The decision follows inquiries by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beginning on May 28 asking why Penn State did not identify any officers or trustees of the university who have relatives employed by the school. Other state-related universities did so by the state's May 30 filing deadline, citing new reporting requirements this year that cover business dealings with relatives of their organization's key leaders.
Geoff Rushton, a Penn State spokesman, initially said on May 28 that Penn State trustees and a consultant who worked with the university on its Right-to-Know filing authorized alternative language to answer the question that did not include the identities or salaries of the individuals.
The approved language read:
"The University knows of no significant transactions between it and any person described in the question other than transactions in the normal course of its activities. All such transactions are conducted at arm's length for good and sufficient consideration and the University believes that the terms and conditions of any such transactions have been fair and reasonable."
Later on May 28, Mr. Rushton told the Post-Gazette that an attorney for the university would be taking a second look at the requirement to be sure.
In an e-mail today, Mr. Rushton said, "Our tax consultant reviewed this and determined we needed to file an amended report. The amended pages will be sent to the Commonwealth and the report on the (Penn State) Web site will be changed."
Penn State, which was long exempt from revealing what any of its employees are paid, now has to provide more financial information under the state's expanded Right to Know Law, which took effect in January 2009.
The law requires Penn State and other state-related universities to provide the same data asked of non-profits on the Internal Revenue Service Form 990, a federal document that Penn State has never before been required to file. The expanded state law also compels those schools to list their 25 highest salaried employees and what those salaries are.
Penn State University said today it plans to submit a revised Right-to-Know report to the state on Friday that will include salaries of two employees left off of the university's initial filing last month.
The decision follows inquiries by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beginning on May 28 asking why Penn State did not identify any officers or trustees of the university who have relatives employed by the school. Other state-related universities did so by the state's May 30 filing deadline, citing new reporting requirements this year that cover business dealings with relatives of their organization's key leaders.
Geoff Rushton, a Penn State spokesman, initially said on May 28 that Penn State trustees and a consultant who worked with the university on its Right-to-Know filing authorized alternative language to answer the question that did not include the identities or salaries of the individuals.
The approved language read:
"The University knows of no significant transactions between it and any person described in the question other than transactions in the normal course of its activities. All such transactions are conducted at arm's length for good and sufficient consideration and the University believes that the terms and conditions of any such transactions have been fair and reasonable."
Later on May 28, Mr. Rushton told the Post-Gazette that an attorney for the university would be taking a second look at the requirement to be sure.
In an e-mail today, Mr. Rushton said, "Our tax consultant reviewed this and determined we needed to file an amended report. The amended pages will be sent to the Commonwealth and the report on the (Penn State) Web site will be changed."
Penn State, which was long exempt from revealing what any of its employees are paid, now has to provide more financial information under the state's expanded Right to Know Law, which took effect in January 2009.
The law requires Penn State and other state-related universities to provide the same data asked of non-profits on the Internal Revenue Service Form 990, a federal document that Penn State has never before been required to file. The expanded state law also compels those schools to list their 25 highest salaried employees and what those salaries are.