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Rodeo association asks county to redesign sponsorship payments after tax problem
Summary
The Olympic Peninsula Rodeo Association told the Clallam County Fair Board it will not accept sponsorship funds routed through the county after the money was treated as taxable income; county and association agreed to meet to design a non-detrimental payment process.
The Olympic Peninsula Rodeo Association told the Clallam County Fair Board on March 12, 2025, that it will not accept sponsorship money routed through Clallam County again after the funds were treated as taxable income when they hit the nonprofit's account.
The issue arose after sponsorship payments for last year’s rodeo were deposited into the rodeo association’s account, producing a tax liability for the nonprofit. Rodeo committee representative, Rodeo committee member, said, “we will not be taking that money again this year,” citing the tax consequences.
Why this matters: the arrangement affected payments for purse money, judges and timers. The association said the county previously wrote a single check to the association to cover those expenses, which simplified distribution but created the tax problem when the funds were posted to the association’s account.
At the meeting, Rodeo committee representative described the association’s decision as a board-level response: the association will not accept sponsorship dollars funneled through its nonprofit account if doing so creates taxable income. The representative asked Clallam County finance staff and the association to meet and design an approach that avoids tax exposure for the nonprofit while allowing the rodeo’s vendors — judges, timers and prize purses — to be paid.
The meeting record shows the board and rodeo representatives agreed to pursue an offline meeting that would include county finance staff. Rodeo committee member said the goal is to “dot all our i’s and cross all our t’s to make sure there is nothing even close to the appearance of impropriety.”
The transcript references Joe Marceau as the county staff member who commented on technical details related to payment and facilities during other agenda items; the rodeo group said they expect county finance and the rodeo secretary to work together on a solution before the next fair-board meeting on April 7.
No formal county action was recorded at the meeting on this topic; the parties agreed to negotiate a payment structure outside the public meeting and return with options.
Ending: Board members scheduled the topic for follow-up discussion at their April meeting and asked the rodeo association and county finance staff to propose options beforehand.
