Many clubs are very confused about how the fee for their certificates is applied and why.
Billing Explained
Clubs are billed for certificates yearly (around February of each year).
This fee is based on the number of certificates issued to members at their club the previous season.
This fee does not mandate or restrict the issuance or renewal of any certificate for that coming season. It is strictly a deposit amount that allows us to reduce the paper handling involved in the spring when new or renewal certificate requests start to come in.
History of Member Dues
There is a history lesson that will help explain how we got here and why.
Until 2002, all certificates were valid for 3 years. At that time, they would be paid, renewed/issued and (re)printed. The numbers varied from year to year, some years there were 300 certificates and other years 600. This variance made budgeting difficult and PHRF-LO found themselves in financial difficulty.
In 2002, the members made a motion (much to the dismay of the PHRF administration) to move to yearly renewals. This caused some concern as the added workload to process/deposit cheques for/re-issue/re-print/mail up to 1600 certificate each and every spring would create increases in time and money. The administration discussed these concerns with the Executive.
In 2003, the members agreed to discontinue printing an expiry date on the certificates, with the understanding that the "Valid Lists" would be published on the web so that they could be verified and current by handicappers and event organizers. Only when a certificate was changed would it be re-printed and mailed out. The intent was that the certificate holder's certificate, once printed, would be valid as long as it was renewed each year and until it was changed and re-printed.
In January 2004, a proposal was made and members agreed to have the clubs "billed and pay" for certificates at their club, starting that year. The only problem was, without knowing the exact number of certificates a club could expect that coming year we needed an amount to ensure PHRF-LO had some form of income for the insuing year. So it was suggested that the amount to be billed that coming February would be based on the number of certificates a club had in 2003.
So the "Pay in advance" type payment option was born, we also offered that all "changes to certificates" would be free of charge as well (previously a $5 fee). The premis of all of this was that once the fee was paid, the handicapper did not have to worry about collecting funds from the owners. We suggested that a club include the "certificate fee" in their racing fees.
In 2005, clubs where billed based on the number of valid certificates (issued or renewed for 2004) that they had on their roster during the 2004 sailing season. This process continues yearly.
In 2006, a proposal was made to discontinue issuing printed certificates altogether and also to allow handicappers to manage renewals of certificates on their own. It seemed that with our current web space, and the fact that most handicappers had internet access, that we were spending a great deal of time and money on printing and mailing certificates. Plus, it seemed that the process of renewing a certificate was causing unneeded work for both the handicapper and the PHRF administration, so this would be looked into.
In 2007, all certificates were created in an Adobe pdf file and uploaded to our web site. Handicappers could now access any certificate on-line, at any time, without adminstration assistance. Changes to certificates and New certificates are still handled by the PHRF-LO administration.
In 2008, the handicapper has "pre-authorized" access to renew a certificates at his club on-line without administration assistance.
The above changes have proven to be much easier for the handicapper and PHRF-LO's administration. This also proved to be cost effective, which allowed us to remove the "Club Dues" portion of the annual dues that use to cost the clubs $75 annually.
In 2017, PHRF-LO modified the Membership Invoice to reflect the "moving forward" amount as a deposit. This allows for reconciliation of the account an applicable taxes.
In 2018, PHRF-LO registered for HST due to Gross Sales/Income which was broaching the threshold where by it would be required by Canada Revenue.