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Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com
March 28, 2014
All-in-the-family lending
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If you’re interested in lending money to your children or other family members, consider establishing a “family bank.” These entities enhance the benefits of intrafamily loans, while minimizing unintended consequences. Lending can be an effective way to provide your family with financial assistance without triggering unwanted gift taxes. So long as a loan is structured in a manner similar to an arm’s-length loan between unrelated parties, it won’t be treated as a taxable gift. This means, among other things, documenting the loan with a promissory note, charging interest at or above the applicable federal rate, establishing a fixed repayment schedule, and ensuring that the borrower has a reasonable prospect of repaying the loan. Even if taxes aren’t a concern, intrafamily loans offer important benefits. For example, they allow you to help your family financially without depleting your wealth or creating a sense of entitlement. Done right, these loans can encourage responsible financial behavior, promote accountability and help cultivate the younger generation’s entrepreneurial capabilities by providing financing to start a business. Too often, however, people lend money to family members with little planning and regard for potential unintended consequences. Rash lending decisions can lead to misunder-
standings, hurt feelings, conflicts among family members and false expectations. That’s where the family bank comes into play. A family bank is a familyowned, family-funded entity — such as a dynasty trust, a family limited partnership or a combination of the two — designed for the sole purpose of making intrafamily loans. Often, family banks are able to make financing available to family members who might have difficulty obtaining a loan from a bank or other traditional funding sources or to lend at
The Clayton Valley Woman’s Club invites guests to attend their monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 8, to learn about the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, outreach programs and the importance and protection of native animals. Guest speakers are Melissa Strongman, director of education, and Ellen Green of
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the reptile team. The Lindsay Wildlife Museum is a unique natural history and environmental education center with the first wildlife rehabilitation hospital established in the country. In 2013, they treated 5,623 sick or orphaned wild animals. The club will present donations to the
museum towards the care of the animals. The Clayton Valley Woman’s Club meets at 10 a.m. on the second Tuesday of the month, except July and August, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 1092 Alberta way, Concord. For more information, call 672-9448 or go to claytonvalleywomansclub.org.
Captain Grammar Pants BRING vs. TAKE is generally directional. When you bring something, it’s coming toward a destination. When you take something, it’s moving away from something else. Think of come (bring) and go (take). If you say you want to “take her to the party,” you transport the person away from where she is. I like all kinds of hot drinks (coffee, tea, and variants thereof), so if you wish to bring me something, I would welcome it. Bring it on! However, if you are serving snails, take them away. Please note that local usage may vary in different parts of the English-speaking world, but the directional nature (bring it here, take it there) of bring and take is a safe and standard rule.. Sean Williams is a professor of ethnomusicology at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. She is currently working on a Captain Grammar Pants book. Follow her regular postings on Facebook.
school to change it to a culture of success in just two years. “The difference was immediate and astonishing,” he told the panel. “Much to the amazement of the staff, parents and students, the school was transformed almost overnight with the instructional framework of ‘rigor, relevance and relationships,’ as developed by Dr. Willard Daggett. I spent nearly a week with the teachers discussing what quality instruction looks like, how application makes learning relevant and how nurturing relationships between teachers and students lays a foundation where students want to learn and perform academically. Professional development
became the constant theme.” The story of CVCHS was clearly a highlight of the hearing, as it was the first example cited by Congressman Miller as he addressed his colleagues. “The transformation of Clayton Valley Charter High School was truly inspiring to see,” he said in his opening remarks. “It’s a testament to the role charter schools can play in the K-12 educational system. Clayton Valley Charter has been a bright light in the 11th District…and the entire community is reaping the benefits.” Linzey said it was “an honor” to be asked to testify in front of the Congressional committee. “I greatly appreciate the warm reception I received from Congressman Miller. He was obviously so proud of the work we
have done in the past two years and the remarkable results we have had to date.” He also said that the committee was very impressed with the tremendous achievement results earned by CVCHS. “They were clearly pleased to hear from leaders who had powerful success stories that provide hope for other schools and districts, along with a roadmap for how to best educate all students and enable them to be on the road to college readiness. “I will always remember this opportunity to share with Congress and feel such great pride in our work with teachers, parents, staff and, of course, students to make CVCHS such a great high school,” he said. “This was a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity that I will cherish.”
idential neighborhoods. He cautioned us that if we were driving more than 25 m.p.h. and a child were to dart into the street and we hit the child, we would have to live with the fact that we were speeding and could have possibly saved the child had we not been. No time savings or other pressures are worth that risk. Lastly, the issue has been raised again recently why there is not more competition for high speed Internet access in Clayton. Comcast is the dominant provider. They provide a good product, but many of us would like to have alternatives. AT&T Uverse is only available in a few of our neighborhoods as part of an AT&T Concord expansion. The company has not been interested in installing Uverse to the rest of
the city. Astound considered expanding but pulled back when the recession hit. Clayton would love to have more options for our residents. Unfortunately, AT&T and Astound have not been interested in making the investment in Clayton. They may feel that Clayton is too small of a market to make it worth their while. I would suggest that if you would like to have more choices that you contact AT&T, Astound or any other Internet provider and request their service. If these companies see that there is sufficient demand they may decide that an investment in Clayton will pay off.
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Lindsay Wildlife Museum Education and Donations Program at the Clayton Valley Woman’s Club April 8 Meeting
Mayor, from page 1
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making process, ensures that family members are treated fairly and avoids false expectations. To ensure fairness and objectivity, and minimize emotional factors, it’s a good idea to involve one or more outside advisors in the management of a family bank.
Club News
Linzey, from page 1 before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce in Washington D.C. on March 12. “This lead to a vote, by the teachers, to convert the school from traditional to charter school, utilizing the state’s charter conversion law.” Linzey, invited by Congressman George Miller (D-Martinez) was one of five educators from across the country invited to the speak about the positive impacts they have seen in charter schools. Linzey went on to tell the story of how he was able to assemble a strong team of teachers, administrators and community members to help guide the
more favorable terms. By “professionalizing” family lending activities, a family bank can preserve the taxsaving power of intrafamily loans while minimizing negative consequences. The key to avoiding family conflicts and resentment is to build a strong family governance structure that promotes communication, group decision making and transparency. Establishing clear guidelines regarding the types of loans the family bank is authorized to make, and allowing all family members to participate in the decision-
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We point out that Clayton is the only incorporated city in Contra Costa County without a full-time fire station. We also point out that response times in Clayton have increased more than the other station closure areas. We mention the recent Morgan Fire and the dangers of Marsh Creek Road. Hopefully the fire board will see the need to fully staff Station 11 again. I received a couple of emails from residents on Keller Ridge Drive expressing concerns about traffic on their street. I am on our streets throughout the week and I have seen some of the problems that were mentioned — drivers rolling quickly through
stop signs and speeding. Our police department has been working on the problem, but it is hard for them to be at the right spot at the right time every time. I calculated that the difference in drive time between 25 m.p.h. and 35 m.p.h. from the top of Keller Ridge to Eagle Peak Avenue is about 50 seconds. (That assumes stopping at the stop sign.) Fifty seconds is not enough of a time savings for the increased risk. When I was at Clayton Valley High School Mr. Zino was our driver’s education teacher. One of the things I remember was his admonishment that we actually drive a little under 25 m.p.h. in school zones and res-
Feel free to contact me with questions and comments at hstratford@ci.clayton.ca.us.