I first heard about Bernero's City Administrative Account in a 9/29/09 story in the Lansing State Journal by Derek Melot. $194,900 had been raised since 1/1/2006, including $2500 from the Lansing Board of Water and Light. Other stories followed. Here are the ones I am aware of:

• BWL check finds way to mayor's fund, Derek Melot, Lansing State Journal, 9/29/09
• Big bucks cost mayor credibility, Derek Melot, Lansing State Journal, 10/6/09
• A closer look at the “527” account of Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, Neal McNamara, Lansing City Pulse, 10/07/09
• Union wants donation to mayor back, Derek Melot, Lansing State Journal, 10/15/09
• Electrical workers union local sues Bernero, wants $5,000 back, Kathryn Prater, Lansing State Journal, 10/28/09

And here is an article from way back in 2006: Michigan politicians use loophole to collect corporate cash, Alex Nixon, mlive.com, 10/26/06.

Supposedly it is all legal, but it sure smells funny. The payments are not campaign contributions, for which there are strict limits. They are not reported to the county clerk, as campaign contributions are. It is a "political organization", yet not a campaign committee. This IRS Fact Sheet may or may not clarify these "527" accounts.

The custodian of the account is Charles L. Moore of C.L. Moore & Associates, P.C. He describes the purpose of the organization on a Form 881, Political Organization Notice of Section 527 Status that he filed with the IRS:

To collect and administer funds to pay expenses incidental to the holding of the Office of Mayor for the City of Lansing, which if incurred by Mayor Virgil Bernero, would be allowable as a deduction under Section 162 of the Code; To sponsor and organize activities in connection with the Lansing mayoral inauguration, and other acts incidental thereto; and To organize and conduct activities in connection with the Lansing mayoral transition to Lansing Mayor-Elect Bernero, and other acts incidental thereto.

Does Bernero really need all this spending money ($294,870 in 7 years)? Doesn't he get a salary and an expense account? I'd say that if money isn't budgeted for "expenses incidental to the holding of the Office of Mayor", he shouldn't incur them. It would be the people's way of saying "Stay in your office and work."

The contribution and expenditure reports are available online at the IRS site. I've compiled the data from the reports through 12/31/2012. Here are the reporting period totals:

Reporting Period	Contributions	Expenditures
1/1/2006-3/31/2006	$85,000	$45,208
4/1/2006-6/30/2006	6,600	24,405
7/1/2006-9/30/2006	43,250	5,614
10/1/2006-12/31/2006	2,000	19,486
1/1/2007-6/30/2007	9,250	16,509
7/1/2007-12/31/2007	17,500	7,836
1/1/2008-3/31/2008	0	6,029
4/1/2008-6/30/2008	14,000	5,871
7/1/2008-9/30/2008	5,000	5,137
10/1/2008-12/31/2008	7,800	1,758
1/1/2009-6/30/2009	4,500	8,743
7/1/2009-12/31/2009	15,500	9,808
1/1/2010-3/31/2010	13,950	17,054
4/1/2010-6/30/2010	5,000	3,262
7/1/2010-9/30/2010	1,420	3,293
10/1/2010-12/31/2010	0	2,867
1/1/2011-6/30/2011	24,081	18,592
7/1/2011-12/31/2011	9,500	13,702
1/1/2012-3/31/2012	2,200	4,545
4/1/2012-6/30/2012	10,319	12,391
7/1/2012-9/30/2012	8,000	6,484
10/1/2012-12/31/2012	10,000	8,894
Totals	$294,870	$247,488

Here is the detail:

• Contributions Sorted by Date
• Contributions Sorted by Employer
• Contributions Sorted by Employer Total
• Expenditures Sorted by Date
• Expenditures Sorted by Recipient
• Expenditures Sorted by Purpose

My two Excel files are also available, one for contributions and one for expenditures.

If you would like to look at the actual IRS data, go to this page on the IRS' website. Under Basic Search, click the box for Form 8872 and in the box for Employer Identification Number (EIN), enter 20-3950788. Then click "City Administrative Account".

We do have a copy of one solicitation letter: the one sent to IBEW Local 665. It was attached to their lawsuit, which was the subject of stories in the Lansing State Journal on 10/15/09 and 10/28/09. It invites the recipient to become a founding member of the Lansing Booster Club at one of 3 levels: Player for $1000, Coach for $5000 or Director for $10,000. And if the recipient did not wish to become a member at this time, they could still support the Lansing Booster Club for $250 or $500: "Corporate checks are welcome." The letter states that the purpose of the Lansing Booster Club is to "provide a core foundation of support for public/private initiatives . . ." An examination of the list of expenditures suggests that the main private initiative is to keep Virg Bernero well fed.

In August 2012, I wrote a "guest column" on Bernero's 527 account for Bridge, the online magazine of the Center for Michigan. In that article, I mentioned that I'd reported Virg to the IRS. I got a reply from the IRS dated January 10, 2013.