Question
I am a member of a volunteer fire company and our tax status is a 501c4. Our tax return is part of the Public Records Act, but are the rest of our records part of the same Act? We believe that we are not part of the Brown Act because none of our members are on the Fire Dept. Board or visa versa. We are a separate entity formed by our group back in the 50’s.
Answer
The Brown Act applies to “legislative bodies” as defined by the Act. A “legislative body” includes:
(c) (1) A board, commission, committee, or other multimember body that governs a private corporation, limited liability company, or other entity that either:
(A) Is created by the elected legislative body in order to exercise authority that may lawfully be delegated by the elected governing body to a private corporation, limited liability company, or other entity.
(B) Receives funds from a local agency and the membership of whose governing body includes a member of the legislative body of the local agency appointed to that governing body as a full voting member by the legislative body of the local agency.
Cal. Govt Code Section 54952(c)(1). Based on your description, your organization does not include a member of the legislative body, so it would not appear to be subject to the Brown Act under Section 54952(c)(1)(B). If the organization was created by the legislative body, however, it may fall under the Brown Act under Section 54952(c)(1)(A).
Generally, records are subject to the Public Records Act when a local agency is covered by the BrownAct. See Cal Govt Code 6252(a). Here, since you note in your inquiry that your organization’s tax returns are subject to the Public Records Act, it may be that some kind of determination has been made in the past that the organization is, in fact, also subject to the Brown Act.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.