Spirit of Somerset Inc. asking town to cover costs for event

A once town-run event that has since become a privately owned non-profit is asking the town of Somerset to find money in it’s existing budget to cover costs associated with the event.

Former Somerset Selectman David Berube attended Wednesday night’s Board of Selectman meeting and is asking the town to help fund town services that were used for the Spirit Of Somerset family fun day event that took place last summer, claiming the town has always covered the cost.

The event was previously operated by the town through it’s own funding and donations. In December 2018 when Berube was a member of the Board of Selectman, Berube incorporated Spirit of Somerset Inc. with him listed as the resident agent. It is unclear if there was ever any discussion in public meetings about privatizing the event. Fall River Reporter reviewed publicly posted agendas for the whole year of 2018 and the item was not listed for discussion. 2018 was the last year Spirit of Somerset was a town funded event.

Spirit of Somerset was incorporated in December of 2018.

The following year, the Board of selectman voted to transfer over $20,000 to the company. The funds were a mix of town celebration funds as well as funds that were donated to the Town of Somerset for the event. Then Board of Selectmen Holly McNamara and Steven Moniz voted in favor of the transfer, with Berube recusing himself from the vote.

bos_3-13-19 That year, Spirit of Somerset Inc hosted it’s first event in town. Tax documents show how the company spent some of it’s funds for the 2019 celebration.

Tax Documents for Spirit of Somerset Inc. for 2019

Due to covid concerns in 2020, the Board of Selectman voted to not approve use of town land for the event. Tax documents show that the company received over $20,000 in revenue from unknown sources and despite not hosting an event, spent over $16,000.

Tax Documents for Spirit of Somerset Inc. 2020

In 2021, Berube submitted an application to use town land for an event that summer. It was at subsequent 2021 Board of Selectman meetings that Board member Allen Smith stated that previously funded parts of the event no longer qualified for financial support from the town because the event was now owned privately. Smith maintained that the funding for the event in previous years was mostly available because of donations to the town and now that the event was owned by Berube, the town was no longer receiving donations.

At the July 21, 2021, meeting, Berube asked for clarification on the issue of funding and when Smith stated they were not able to give funds to Berube stated:

“There will be no Spirit of Somerset this year,” and that board members “killed the Spirit of Somerset.”

At a meeting a month later, however, Berube returned to finalize his application. During that meeting, Berube asked for clarification on things like trash pick-up and parking and stated that his company was going to raise funds to cover the cost of reimbursing the town for police, fire and highway services. The application was approved.

Berube then started a GoFund Me with the hopes of raising $25,000. Berube fell short and raised less than $8,000.

Fundraiser for Spirit of Somerset Inc.

In 2022, however, Berube claims that he was not charged for those same services. At last night’s meeting, Smith maintained that Berube was charged and that if he wasn’t, it was an oversight that could have been attributed to having an interim town administrator.

For the 2023 event, the town once again billed Burube for costs to the event including highway department services and police details as well as fire department services associated with a fireworks display. Berube stated that because he was not charged in 2022, he had not planned on paying for them in 2023.

Coincidentally, Allison Faunce Richards, operator of Soutcoast Open Air Market (SOAM), an open-air market that takes place in the summer in Somerset, was at Wednesday night’s meeting asking for approval for use of town land for her 2024 scheduled events. She shared that her organization, who is in the process of becoming a non-profit like Spirit of Somerset, pays for all the services that they use from the town. Faunce Richards provided documents to the board about SOAM’s finances. Berube did not.

Though not disclosed at the meeting, Fall River Reporter has learned that Berube is asking the town to cover the following expenses:

Highway department: $5,306.40
Fire department: $6,244.15.
Police department: $5,452.00

At last night’s meeting, Berube stated that he had a meeting with Board of Selectman Jamison Souza prior to the Wednesday night meeting where Berube offered to pay half of the outstanding costs.

Souza began discussion about the outstanding balance by disclosing that he felt an amicable solution was splitting the bill with Spirit of Somerset, but Smith disagreed. Smith shared that at a previous town meeting where Berube submitted an article for consideration asking for the town to allocate funds for the event, the Advisory and Finance Committee voted unanimously to not recommend the article, stating they had consulted with an attorney and believed the town could not allocate funds for an operating non-profit. The article was voted down by residents at that meeting. Voters did, however, vote to allocate funding to cover the cost of fireworks for the event. The town pays the vendor directly for the service.

According to Souza, each of the three departments had these expenses built into their existing budget. Town Administrator Mark Ullicci elaborated that while the dollar amounts were not listed as individual line items in each department budget, it was possible that there would be money left over to potentially cover the costs.

Smith asserted that Berube was well aware that his organization would be responsible for the costs of the town services before the event took place.

Despite the intended resolution that Souza and Berube discussed, the board ultimately did not make a decision on the issue in light of Smith’s disclosure about potential legal issues.