Seven years ago, United for The Troops, a Putnam County nonprofit that provides care packages for troops deployed overseas, needed an office to store its donations and assemble boxes to send around the world.
Then-County Executive MaryEllen Odell, an avid supporter of veterans issues, came to the rescue. She let the nonprofit corporation occupy the first floor of a vacant county office building at 34 Gleneida Ave. in what she termed was “a temporary arrangement.”
There was no lease, no rent, no utility payments. Odell also sought no approval to allow the nonprofit to operate on county property from the County Legislature, which regularly approves contracts with nonprofits to do business with the county.
For Odell, sending care packages to American soldiers was an undertaking that deserved extraordinary action.
“The mission itself superseded any formality,” said Odell. “It was supposed to be only temporary. We were heating, lighting and insuring the building anyway. What to do? Leave it completely vacant or give it to United For The Troops?”
Seven years later, the “temporary” arrangement with the nonprofit continues. It's an off-the-books giveaway to a politically connected organization supported by a vigorous fundraising program. This spring, the group held an April 2024 gala at Villa Barone in Mahopac, with its $10,000 raffle drawing at the hamlet’s premier function hall, and a $200-per-person golf outing at Putnam County Golf Course in May.
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Corporate donors include the supermarket chain, Shoprite and NYSEG, the region’s electricity company, said Jim Rathschmidt, who with his wife, Patty, founded the nonprofit 17 years ago.
That’s when their son, Luke, was deployed with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq. After sending a care package to their son, they formed the organization to send care packages to other service men and women. Since then, Rathschmidt said the group has shipped about 33,000 packages abroad. Their son died May 18 in a tragic accident in South Carolina.
Veterans have long played a central role in Putnam County Republican politics. Under Odell, the county established a the Putnam County Veterans Service Office and created the patriotic display of hundreds of flags along the banks of Lake Gleneida in downtown Carmel to honor local veterans.
Rathschmidt said Odell welcomed the nonprofit as a “guest” of Putnam County in the nonprofit’s time of need.
“This was given to us as a gift, and we treat it like a gift,” said Rathschmidt, of Mahopac. “It’s been working for us and the county and our community for many years.”
With first-floor commercial space renting for $19 to $24 a square foot in downtown Carmel, the gift would be valued at $19,000 to $24,000 a year, based on 1,000 square-feet of space. Over its 7-year off-the-books tenancy, that free office would be valued up to $168,000.
County Executive Byrne continues Odell gift to the nonprofit
That gift to the private nonprofit corporation, given without authority by the County Legislature, has continued since County Executive Kevin Byrne took office in January 2023. The County Legislature voted to sell the office building in 2019, but took it off the market in 2023 after a potential buyer’s deal fell through when the county declined to provide parking to serve his mixed-use project.
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Byrne said last week that he intended to put the building back on the market, while allowing Rathschmidt’s nonprofit to continue its rent-free tenancy until the deal was consummated, without any written agreement with the county. The building, which is located in front of the Putnam County Courthouse, is next door to the Putnam Veterans Memorial building, which houses local posts of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The county's premier park, Veterans Memorial Park in Kent, features Vietnam War-era military equipment, such as a Cobra helicopter and a M-60 tank.
“I have not and will not pull the rug out from under an organization that sends tens of thousands of care packages to our troops overseas,” said Byrne. “Patty and Jim Rathschmidt are incredible, generous folks and the county is happy to support their efforts.”
The group's Facebook page features pictures of several Republican elected officials who have attended its functions. They include Byrne, Carmel Town Board member Frank Lombardi, County Legislator Erin Crowley, and County Court Judge Joseph Spofford. Assemblyman Matt Slater, R-Yorktown, recognized the Rathschmidts on May 14 from the floor of the New York State Assembly as Putnam County's "Seniors of the Year."
When asked about the nonprofit's off-the-books tenancy, County Legislature Chairman Paul Jonke, R-Southeast, declined comment. The Legislature’s lone Democrat, Legislator Nancy Montgomery, D-Philipstown, also declined comment.
Legislator Greg Ellner, R-Carmel, who chairs the Legislature’s Physical Services Committee, said he was unaware of the county’s gift to United For The Troops.
“I knew they were in there, and under the impression they were a tenant,” said Ellner. “I do know they do a lot of good, but I was unaware they were gratis.”
A 501(c)(3) organization that does not disclose its income
On its website , United For The Troops states that it’s a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, which means donations to the organization are tax-deductible on state and federal income tax filings. Such organizations are required to file annual 990 financial reports , which are available for public viewing. They detail a charitable organization’s annual income, its expenses, the names of its board of directors, and the salaries of its highest paid employees.
United For the Troops, however, makes no such public reports.
That lack of disclosure has troubled Sarah Johnson, the former Putnam County historian who was appointed by Odell in 2014. Johnson said county employees were encouraged to donate to the nonprofit at Odell’s annual holiday party at Putnam County Golf Course.
One year, Johnson said she looked up United For The Troops on an online database for charitable nonprofits, only to find that the nonprofit did not make the same disclosures that other nonprofits were required to make.
“They are still sending me solicitations, and I like to do my due diligence, to see what they are doing with the money they are collecting,” she said. “I like to see what percentage of a nonprofit’s income is going to the stated mission. I found it surprising that this nonprofit is doing all this fundraising didn’t have to disclose.”
What Guidestar says about United For The Troops
On Guidestar, an online source of nonprofit financial reports, the entry for the nonprofit states that it does not have to file a 990 because it is a church. A search of the IRS database for 501(c)(3) organizations, using the employment identification number for United For The Troops found in numerous databases, turns up nothing for the private corporation.
Rathschmidt said his nonprofit comes under the umbrella of the Christian-based Fellowship Network International, located in Irving, Texas. On Guidestar, the Fellowship’s website belongs to the Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers, Inc.
The Network’s website encourages nonprofits to register with the church for $300 a year under the church group’s “covering” program, which allows non-religious nonprofit groups like United For The Troops to obtain 501(c)(3)status.
“Receive 501(c)(3) IRS Tax Covering for your church or organization,” states its website.
Doing so allows the nonprofits to keep secret their financial information because church organizations are exempted from disclosure. The Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministers does not file 990s.
Rathschmidt referred Tax Watch to the Fellowship to obtain information about the “covering” program. But Fellowship administrator Bryan Crowson did not return several phone messages this week.
Rathschmidt said that no one in United For The Troops received pay, with all of its income dedicated to its mission. He declined to disclose how much the nonprofit has raised in recent years.
“We got involved with this community church in Texas, and it covers a lot of 501(c)(3) groups,” he said. “We have nothing to hide.”
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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government accountability. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: How a well-connected nonprofit receives rent-free office space as a gift in Putnam County
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