Moraine Foundation creates “Historical Celebrations” event fund, reviews 2024 year-end balance

The Moraine Foundation at its Sept. 8, 2022 meeting approved creation of a new event line item called “Historical Celebrations” to collect donations for the city’s 60th celebration and similar future events, and heard a report that the foundation’s year-end balance stood at $117,628.29.

Board members discussed why a single, generic event line would help the foundation accept and manage donations for periodic anniversary and heritage events while reducing the number of separate event accounts. The foundation also reviewed a small, separate “community caretaker” fund—established by an anonymous former-employee donation and administered by the police department—for immediate, small-dollar resident needs.

Laura (staff member) presented the foundation’s end-of-year balances and said the total balance in the Moraine Foundation account at year-end was $117,628.29. She told the board she will later return with recommendations about consolidating several “one-and-done” event accounts and removing or combining items that no longer need distinct event entries.

Chief Richardson described the community caretaker fund as an on-hand, limited cash fund used selectively to meet urgent needs—examples cited included paying for a tank of gas or groceries for someone in immediate need. Richardson said the fund is logged and replenished through receipts and that it has been in place about a year. The transcript records that two expenses have been charged to that event; the total dollar amount for those expenses was not specified in the meeting record.

On the new event, staff proposed naming the account “Historical Celebrations” to allow donations intended for multiple milestone events (for example, the planned 60th) to be collected under a single line item. Staff recommended an expense policy that would cap spending for the event at the amount donated—if expenses would exceed donations, the foundation would return to the board for approval. Board members discussed options for leftover funds at the end of an event: leave funds in the event account for future similar celebrations or reimburse the City of Moraine for city personnel or services (public safety, parks, street department) the city provided for the event. Staff noted the city already added money to the annual budget to cover the possibility of a shortfall.

Board members also reviewed legacy event accounts: the 50th celebration account is closed with no funds remaining, and the Heritage Festival account still shows a balance of $2,000. Board members cautioned that earmarked donations tied to a specific event cannot be repurposed without donor permission.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to excuse Miss Marcus and Mr. Burchard from the meeting: approved by roll call (Mister Miller: yes; Mister Doherty: yes; Missus Woods: yes; Missus Allen: yes; Mayor Murphy: yes). Outcome: approved. - Approval of the minutes for the Moraine Foundation meeting of Sept. 8, 2022: approved by voice/roll call (record shows minutes approved). Outcome: approved. - Motion to create the “Historical Celebrations” event line and establish an expense cap not to exceed donations (for the 60th celebration and future similar events): approved by roll call (Mister Doherty: yes; Missus Witt: yes; Mayor Murphy: yes; Missus Allen: yes; Mister Miller: yes). Outcome: approved.

There was no action taken to add funds to the foundation’s accounts at the meeting. Staff said they will return with further recommendations on consolidating event accounts and with details if any policy changes are needed for event expense handling.

The meeting also included brief comments about maintaining records for donor restrictions and preserving donor intent when considering merging or absorbing historical event accounts. A former council member, Mr. Maguire, was mentioned in passing as having opposed absorbing the Heritage Festival account in prior discussions.