By Laws, Resolutions, and Legislation

2.1.11          Public Relations Committee

 The public relations committee shall provide resources and advice to the clubs to further their public relations activities to improve their public image. It shall also recommend to the governor public relations activities on the district level and implement any such activities as may be approved by the governor.

3.3The District Governor Elect shall appoint the District Training Committee of which the District Trainer shall be the Chair. The Committee shall be charged with assisting the District Trainer and the Governor Elect in organizing all district training events, including, but not limited to PETS, District Assembly, District Team Training Seminar, etc.

3.4 The Rotary Foundation Committees shall consist of the Director and the Chairs of the subcommittees appointed by the District Governor in accordance with the recommendations of the Rotary Foundation. Each subcommittee shall consist of those Rotarians appointed by the District Governor. The committees shall promote participation by the district and clubs in the educational, cultural, humanitarian and fund development activities of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International and such district Foundation events as the District Governor shall approve.

       3.4.1   The Director of the District Rotary Foundation Committees shall be appointed, after consultation with incoming governors, for a term of one year and may not be reappointed to further terms of more than two additional years unless at least one year has elapsed from the previous term. In the event of a vacancy in the Foundation Committee chairmanship, the District Governor shall appoint another Rotarian to the balance of the one year term.

3.5 The District Governor shall be an ex-officio member of and shall approve all projects, events and activities of all committees except the Finance, Audit and Nominating Committees. The governor may attend the meetings of all committees, but shall not participate in questions to candidates for nomination and may not vote at the Nominating Committee meetings.

3.6 The District Governor may appoint special committees consisting of one or more Rotarians for the governor's term of office as the governor may deem appropriate.

Article IV College of Governors

The College of Governors shall consist of all past District Governors who are members in good standing of clubs within the district. It shall meet from time to time and at least twice yearly at the call of the District Governor and shall advise the District Governor as it may deem appropriate. It shall also promote activity by past District Governors in zone and international events and activities. The District Governor shall preside at all meetings of the College and may invite incoming governors and district officers to attend the meetings of the College. The College of Governors may meet in executive session for the current, past and incoming governors only at the call of the District Governor or five of the past governors.

Article V Finance

5.1 Budget

   5.1.1 The District Governor Elect shall propose a budget for his term of office to the Finance Committee within thirty (30) days of the completion of the International Assembly in the Rotary year preceding his\her term of office as District Governor. The Finance Committee shall meet with the District Governor elect during the twenty-one (21) day period following the presentation of the proposed budget and shall approve the final budget to be presented to the District Assembly. The affirmative votes of at least three members of the finance committee shall be required for budget approval.

   5.1.2 The budget shall consist of projected income, the proposed annual per capita district dues and allocations for program expenses and operating expenses. The budget shall show a reserve for contingencies of at least two percent of the amount of other expenditures. The Finance Committee shall certify the proposed budget to the District Governor by April 1 of the preceding Rotary year and the District Governor shall provide a copy of such proposed budget to each club president and president-elect with a notice that such budget shall be presented for adoption at the annual District Assembly. Such notice shall be mailed at least thirty (30) days preceding the date of the District Assembly.

   5.1.3 The budget as presented by the Finance Chair or his\her designee, to the District Assembly and as may be amended by the District Assembly shall be adopted by a majority of the presidents-elect present and voting at the District Assembly. Only presidents-elect may vote to amend or adopt the district budget, provided that where a president-elect is formally excused from attending the district assembly by the incoming governor, the designated representative of the president-elect shall be entitled to vote in his/her place.

   5.1.4 The District Governor and the District Treasurer shall designate a bank as the district depository and shall open a checking account which shall require the signatures of the

District Governor and/or district treasurer for all withdrawals. Such account shall be designated as The District Fund. The District Governor, after consultation with the finance committee, may also open an investment account or like account for funds not currently needed by the district. Investment of funds not currently needed may be made by the District Governor and/or treasurer in accordance with the policies of Rotary International. Separate accounts for the district conference or for other purposes may be opened by the District Governor at his\her discretion, provided, however, that all such other district depository accounts shall have the treasurer and another district chair/officer as signatories on each account and that all bank statements shall be delivered by relevant banks to the treasurer. The above requirements shall not apply to the District Contingency Fund which shall be governed as provided below.

  5.1.5 The District Governor may expend the funds budgeted and received. The governor shall have the authority to revise budget line items after consultation with the finance committee and provided that the governor may not expend more than the total amount appropriated by the district budget, except as hereinafter provided. Those items which contemplate a contribution to a succeeding year's budget or a contribution to special funds or as may be specified by these bylaws or district resolutions may not be expended by the District Governor for any other purpose. The District Governor shall not approve any fund raising program for general district budget purposes which does not appear in the approved budget or which has not been approved by the District Assembly. The prior sentence of this subparagraph is not intended to prevent the District Governor from approving the solicitation of advertisements or other methods of raising funds for any district publication.

   5.1.6 The budget shall provide an appropriation sufficient to enable the District Governor elect and his/her partner to attend the Rotary International Convention, to enable the District Governor, District Governor elect, and partners to attend the district conference, and to enable the District Governor, District Governor elect and District Governor nominee to attend the Rotary Institute programs such as governor elect training, governor programs, etc. The budget shall further provide an appropriation to enable the District Trainer to attend the sessions provided for such trainers at the Zone Institutes. Nothing is intended in this provision to restrict the district from providing an appropriation for other officers and/or partners for other district, zone or international meetings. In determining such appropriations, the finance committee and the District Assembly shall consider the lowest costs reasonably necessary for the officer to attend the specific meeting only.

    5.1.7 The district shall provide an annual appropriation for the representative of the district to the Council on Legislation, which appropriation shall be carried over to the next Rotary year and expended in the year during which the Council meets.

   5.1.8 In the event that a Rotary International Convention is held in a location which requires an unusually large appropriation for attendance by the governor elect, the budget may in prior years anticipate such expense by a partial appropriation which shall be paid over to succeeding district treasuries until needed for such convention. Any unused funds appropriated for attendance at the Rotary International Conventions shall be considered line items and shall be paid over to succeeding district treasuries solely for the same purpose.

   5.1.9 The budget may provide for an appropriation/contribution to any fund created by the district for a charitable Rotary purpose.

   5.1.10 The budget may contain an appropriation towards the conduct of the district conference to cover those expenses assumed by the district for the conference, including, but not limited to, the expenses of the president's representative, the attendance of Interact and Rotaract leaders, the attendance of group study team visitors or members, etc.

  5.1.11 The District Governor shall pay all of the obligations of the district no later than two (2) months following the end of his\her term of office and shall dispose of any excess funds as follows:

        (a) The governor shall pay over to the new District Governor the sums budgeted which were intended to be paid to a succeeding treasury for a specific future use;

        (b) Ten (10%) percent of the funds remaining (except for restricted funds which must be paid over to the succeeding District Governor) shall be paid over to the Finance Committee for deposit in the District Contingency Fund, provided that no such transfer to the District Contingency Fund shall be made which shall raise the amount of the Fund to more than sixty (60%) percent of the amount of budgeted operating expenditures for the year during which the transfer is made.  

       (c)  For the purpose of this section, “operating expenses” shall be defined as all budget items except for the programs and district events that are intended to be funded by sources other than district per capita dues.

      (d)  Funds in excess of those required to be paid over to the Contingency Fund may be used for any purpose permitted by the R.I. Bylaws of R.I. Board of Directors Code of Policies.

5.2 Annual Audit

     The outgoing District Governor shall by September 30 after the expiration of his\her term of office deliver a complete report of income and expenditures, a year-end trial balance, detailed general ledger, journal (including detailed cash receipts and detailed cash disbursements), year- end bank reconciliations and budget status to the chair of the district audit committee. Additionally, the outgoing District Governor shall provide the Audit Committee with check registers, bank statements, deposit slips and any other financial items requested by the Audit Committee or required for Federal and State tax returns. The Audit Committee and any certified public accountant appointed to consult with the committee shall review the records of the District Governor and shall meet with the District Governor and the district treasurer to review the records. The Audit Committee shall prepare its report, including recommendations to the current District Governor and shall forward a copy of the audit report to each of the clubs. The audit report shall be submitted to the district conference or district assembly and formally adopted by the delegates. It is the intention of this section that the Audit complies with all requirements of Rotary International plus those provisions set forth above. In addition to any penalties provided by the R.I. Bylaws or Code of Policies, in the event an outgoing District Governor fails to fully comply with all requirements of R.I. or the district in connection with the audit of his/her books and records as governor, the incumbent governor shall suspend the outgoing governor from all district positions, including participation in the College of Governors, until such outgoing governor fully complies with the audit requirements. Such suspension shall not be an exclusive remedy and other lawful remedies may be instituted by the district or Rotary International.

5.3 Contingency Fund

       The District Contingency Fund, funded as provided above, shall be maintained in a depository designated by the Finance Committee. All withdrawals shall be made by the Chair of the Finance Committee and the District Governor. The funds held in the District Contingency Fund may be expended only in an emergency as approved by a majority of the Finance Committee upon the recommendation of the District Governor. The governor elect, however, may borrow up to eight thousand ($8,000) dollars from the fund on or after January 2 of each year in order to defray the costs of organizing the district. The funds borrowed shall be deposited in the governor-elect's district treasury account, all expenditures from those funds shall be provided for in the governor-elect's annual district budget, shall be subject to review by the district audit committee and shall be repaid to the contingency fund no later than September 1 of the governor's term. A negative decision of the Finance Committee as to the payment of any funds from the contingency fund may be appealed by the District Governor to the presidents of the clubs at a regular or special meeting of the District Assembly or District Conference.

5.4 Per Capita Dues

      Each club shall pay such annual per capita dues which shall be approved in the district budget. The incoming district treasurer shall provide a bill to each club on or about June 1 of each year and such dues shall be due and payable on July 1. The per capita dues shall apply to all members, other than honorary, of a club as of July 1 of each year.

Article VI District Sponsored Organizations

6.1 No organization or nonprofit corporation qualified in accordance with IRS Provision 501(c)3 (the charitable organization) shall use the name and number of the district in any way nor receive the sanction or support of the district or its clubs unless it complies with the following provisions of these bylaws.

6.2 Each such charitable organization shall initially receive the formal sanction of the district governor upon the recommendation of the College of Governors.

6.3 Each sanctioned organization may use the district name and number in its organization name or in describing the organization to the public.

6.4 Each sanctioned organization shall be governed by a board of trustees appointed by the district governor. District 7510 shall be the sole member of the charitable organization. The trustees shall be appointed for staggered terms and the governor shall fill the vacancies as they occur.

6.5 Each sanctioned charitable organization shall submit an annual financial statement signed by the officers of the charitable organization, to the district governor and district audit committee for the Rotary year ending June 30. Such statement shall be delivered no later than August 1 of any year and shall include, but shall not be limited to, a description of receipts and disbursements, receivables and payables, assets and liabilities and any such information requested by the district audit committee or district governor. Such statement shall be reviewed by an independent certified public accountant whose report shall be further reviewed by the district audit committee.

6.6 The sanction and support of the charitable organization shall be terminated if the charitable organization is dissolved or terminated by government authorities, has its 501(c)3 status removed by the IRS, does not submit, in the opinion of the district audit committee, an acceptable financial statement as required by these bylaws or if, in the opinion of the governor, the charitable organization or its leader(s) have not acted in accordance with Rotary ethics and standards of conduct or that the purpose of the charitable organization has changed and is no longer in accordance with Rotary policies. In any such an event, the charitable organization shall be dissolved in accordance with State law.

6.7 Notice of district removal of sanction and support shall be delivered in writing to each officer and trustee of the charitable organization via certified mail or personal delivery and shall take effect ten days from the mailing/delivery. Any violation of the removal provisions shall be referred by the district to counsel for enforcement action.

6.8 These provisions shall apply immediately upon adoption of these bylaws to any charitable organization then sanctioned or supported by the district and application for sanction and support shall be submitted to the district governor within 30 days of such adoption. The governor shall then discuss the application with the College of Governors and shall decide whether to accept or reject the application.

6.9 This Article shall not apply to Rotary multi-district projects or any entities approved by Rotary International or to short term projects approved by the District Governor.

Article VII  Amendments

7.1 These bylaws may be amended by the duly constituted delegates at a district conference by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of those delegates present and voting.

7.2 Proposals for amendments shall be presented to the Committee on Bylaws, Resolutions and Legislation prior to March 1 preceding the District Conference at which such proposed amendment is intended to be presented.

7.3 No bylaw amendment may be considered for adoption unless the presidents of each club shall have received a copy of any proposed bylaw amendment at least thirty days prior to the first day of the district conference at which the proposed amendment shall be considered.

7.4 The governor elect shall arrange for the distribution of copies of the current bylaws to all presidents-elect at the annual PETS and shall publish a full copy of the bylaws in the district website which shall be made available on request to all Rotarians in the district.

7.5 All amendments to the bylaws shall take effect on July 1 following adoption by the district conference unless an earlier date is specified in the amendment.

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Proposed by the Committee on Bylaws, Legislation and Resolutions April 1994

Amended, April 26, 1995, June 6, 1998, May 22, 1999, May 5, 2000, April, 2006, April 24, 2009, May 30 ,2010