More than 30 Local Organizations Lose Nonprofit Status in IRS Clean-Up

Twenty-one Rohnert Park nonprofit organizations and 11 in Cotati — including the North Bay Jewish Community Center and the Cotati Jazz Festival — have lost their nonprofit status in an IRS cleanup of organizations failing to file their tax returns for three years in a row.

According to the IRS, a total of 275,000 groups nationwide “have had their federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked for failing to file an annual information return or notice with the IRS for three consecutive years.”

That action “shrinks the nation’s growing nonprofit sector by roughly 17 percent, to about 1.3 million charities, trade associations, membership groups and labor unions,” wrote Stephanie Strom in the New York Times.

According to the Times, many non-partisan groups see the clean-up as a positive piece of housekeeping—designed to weed out now-defunct organizations from public record, to ease the task of researchers and other officials who regularly source nonprofits.

But others speculate that many already understaffed nonprofits may have been caught off gaurd by changes in filing rules. In 2006 the Pension Protection Act mandated that all nonprofits - including organizations with annual revenue of under $25,000, who had previously be exhempt - file tax returns. But the change to longstanding legislation was buried in a 339-page jargon-filled document, and widely ignored.

The IRS began an outreach program last year, when they realized that almost a quarter of nonprofit organizations stood to lose their status under the new rules. Despite reaching out to regional umbrella organizations, the IRS was foiled in their attempt to contact many organizations individually, because their addresses and phone numbers were outdated. 

(Many of the organizations have disbanded, speculate the IRS, but , having never filed a tax return, simply don't have contact information on file.)

In Rohnert Park, a few prominent names top the list, as well as a number mystery organizations. Here's the complete list of local groups:

PARTHENON HOUSING INCORPORATED    

1801 E COTATI AVE                 

ROHNERT PARK         

OHANA WA A                        

256 ALLAN AVE                     

ROHNERT PARK         

RANCHO COTATE MUSIC COMMITTEE     

PO BOX 1485                       

ROHNERT PARK         

INNER VISION INSTITUTE             

5321 EUNICE ST                    

ROHNERT PARK         

C A R E PROGRAMS                  

8670 CAMINO COLEGIO APT 158       

ROHNERT PARK         

PLAN FOR ACCIDENT HEALTH &        

 DISABILITYANDERSON GO            

101 ENTERPRISE DR APT 44          

ROHNERT PARK         

TEMPLE BEAUTIFUL                  

979 GOLF COURSE DR                

ROHNERT PARK         

FRIEDMAN BROS HARDWARE EMPLOYEE   

PO BOX 2603                       

ROHNERT PARK         

RPC NET                           

6 REGENTS CIR                      

ROHNERT PARK         

TAU KAPPA EPSILON FRATERNITY INC  

534 TAU-BETA CHAPTER              

6369 SAN BENITO WAY               

ROHNERT PARK         

ROHNERT PARK WOMENS LOW-KEY       

PO BOX 1569                       

ROHNERT PARK         

CRANE PARENTS AND TEACHERS        

1290 SOUTHWEST BLVD               

ROHNERT PARK         

HEART TO HEART GROUP HOME         

PO BOX 1354                       

ROHNERT PARK         

HEARTSTRINGS FOUNDATION           

110 ALISON AVE                    

ROHNERT PARK         

RANALLY CLUB WINE COUNTRY         

5935 LABATH AVE                   

ROHNERT PARK         

REDWOOD TRANSITIONAL LIVING       

37 CHIVA CT                       

ROHNERT PARK         

ROSEN SACKLER FOUNDATION          

1482 PARKWAY DR                   

ROHNERT PARK         

AMERICAN LEGION POST 0456 S F     

 POLICE POST45                    

1017 GOLF COURSE DR               

ROHNERT PARK         

ROHNERT PARK GARDEN CLUB JEANNINE O

PO BOX 1186                       

ROHNERT PARK         

NORTHBAY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER  

PO BOX 1066                       

ROHNERT PARK         

HOMELESS PREVENTION GROUP OF COTATI

6601 COMMERCE BLVD                

ROINHERT PARK         

DISABILITY ASSOCIATES             

PO BOX 968                        

COTATI               

COMMUNITY HOMES AND SERVICES      

7670 ISABEL DR                    

COTATI               

REDWOOD EMPIRE CHAPTER INC HOG INC

HOG INC                           

7601 REDWOOD DR                   

COTATI               

SONOMA COUNTY ADDICTION TRANSITION

104 SILVER DR                     

COTATI               

PETALUMA COUNCIL FOR RETARDED     

PO BOX 631                        

COTATI               

AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY         

103 COTATI UNIT                   

7175 GRAVENSTEIN HWY              

COTATI               

COUNCIL FOR RETARDED CHILDREN OF  

PO BOX 631                        

COTATI               

EMPOWERMENT AND CREATIVE LIVING   

7960 SUNFLOWER DR                 

COTATI               

SONOMA COUNTY WOMENS HEALTH       

PO BOX 907                        

COTATI               

SONOMA COUNTY RESTURANT & TAVERN  

 OWNERS ASSNRESTAURANT ASSOC RE   

PO BOX 234                        

COTATI               

COTATI JAZZ INC                   

PO BOX 551                         

COTATI