Parents stunned by former Scout executive’s pay

By MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer

July 06, 2009 11:54 pm

— OTTUMWA — Parents and supporters may have had time to digest the news that Boy Scouts of America executives in Iowa received “big” salaries, but they said the news still isn’t going down easy.
“Those guys are drawing those big salaries and not thinking about the scouts,” contends David Wright, a former scout master who is the father of two Eagle Scouts. “Our scouts are working hard to pay those salaries, [yet] they are cutting programs.”
Wright was referring especially to the recent discontinuation of funding for a summer camp at Camp Wapello near Drakesville
“They said it was costing too much. You’ve got to think of the scouts instead of these big salaries. That’s just how I feel,” said Wright. “The [Des Moines] Register said the outgoing scout executive was making $175,000. And he’s getting money for retirement and a bonus.”
“It [doesn’t] seem right,” agreed Kathy Fortney, a scouting mom from Eldon. “We weren’t aware the board decided to give him all this money.”
Yet the new director of the Mid-Iowa Council of the Boy Scouts of America said some of the information floating around the water coolers is not 100 percent accurate. Bob Hopper said he wants to communicate with scouting families and that if they understood some of the financial situation a little more, communicating might be easier. While many Americans are uncomfortable discussing their personal information — like salary — he said because of the law, all such information is publicly available.
“As a not-for-profit, we are required to file a Form 990 with the IRS. All that information is on there; under IRS regulations you can look up our Form-990,” he said. “All of our salaries, the salary ranges, are set at the national level [by the BSA]. That range is [applicable] whether you’re in Des Moines or in Miami.”
Depending on tenure or on performance, he said, the local board, all volunteers, can increase that base salary to the top of the range determined by the BSA.
Yet since the IRS has regulations on what executives can earn, the Boy Scouts of America have brought in an outside company to regularly review the salary charts.
“They compare the tasks these positions perform and review our salary charts ... so we don’t go astray of the IRS [regulations] that regulate compensation of not-for-profits. The IRS has really tightened up; I think it’s a lot of good scrutiny.”
As parents in Ottumwa have stated, there will be money paid to Hopper’s predecessor, Eli Brewer. But that annual payment is like a retirement fund set up by a teacher, for example; the employee pays into it, the BSA pays into it; when the employee retires, they can start drawing benefits. The Mid-Iowa Council is “not paying Eli a dime.”
But Wright had asked about the lump sum payment Brewer received, listed in the Des Moines Register as more than $100,000. That, he said, doesn’t sit well when kids are supposed to come first.
“They say there’s not enough to fund summer camp here for scouts, but there is enough to give bonuses,” Wright said.
That was not a bonus, Hopper insists.
The national BSA organization puts a cap on how much councils can pay executives, Hopper said, with the understanding that when an employee hits that ceiling, they may leave their job and go on to a bigger council where they could be paid more.
“With my predecessor, Eli Brewer, a highly successful, long-tenured executive, he was at the top of the range; no more raises. So [he’d] need to move up. The Mid Iowa Council wanted to keep Eli here because of his experience,” said Hopper. “So what some people may think of as a bonus was a deferred raise... under our system. And yes, that is an unusual [arrangement]. But it was also unusual to have someone stay as long as Eli.”
So in one way, they really continued giving raises, but put those funds in an account that Brewer couldn’t touch. After years of putting his pay increases into that fund, he was able to draw it when he retired.
“It seemed a little underhanded,” said Fortney. “National limits how much they can be paid, but then the board turns around [and sets] up a separate account for him. But they didn’t have the money to keep our camp open?”
“It was money he should have been presented with; that was done to keep Eli here deferred until he retired; he took the compensation and then paid the taxes on it,” Hopper said.
Wright was also concerned about kids working to raise that “compensation” through fundraisers.
“We had $1.1 million worth of popcorn gross receipts,” said Hopper. “It’s split into thirds. A third of that [gross] pays for the product, a third goes toward council operations — some of that money does go to salaries — and a third stays with the kids, and they use it how they see fit. That’s one of the benefits; it drives the scouting program at every level.”
But with a camp the BSA does not own, it may not make sense to keep sending extra money to Camp Wapello rather than to a Boy Scout-owned camp.
“I hate to boil things down to dollars and cents. But sometimes that’s what it comes down to. We were losing enrollment there and at our other camps. The [board members] had to make a tough decision that would [benefit] the entire Mid-Iowa Council [area],” said Hopper.
“But that doesn’t make sense,” said Fortney. “Financially, I don’t think it’s costing them that much when you consider the boys you’re helping down here. You learn a lot at summer camp.”
Hopper said he came from a rural area and understood living in a rural area can make it harder to get the same opportunities as those who live closer to a resource. And that it can be expensive to drive scouts hours to get to an official Boy Scout camp.
“I [understand] the decision about [not supporting summers at] Camp Wapello doesn’t feel good. But in the end, I want to do whatever I can to support that individual scout. I think we can provide quality service to all of our boys,” Hopper said.
Wright said they’ll have some sort of camp at Lake Wapello this summer, but it won’t be quite as well supplied as a camp supported by the BSA.
“There are things they are missing out on,” he said.
But he and Fortney both said Hopper has been willing to listen and to help where he could.
Fortney said so far, she is impressed with the new scout executive (who started in January), and believes people in southeast Iowa would be willing to work with him.
Hopper said he’d like to talk with the parents to clear up any misunderstandings and also to see what he can do to make opportunities available to the youngsters.
“I’d like to work with them to help them with whatever works for them,” he said.
Ottumwa Courier reporter Mark Newman can be reached at 683-5358 or by e-mail at mgnewman@mchsi.com.