Learn More: Background of Dues Change
At the request of Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, a task force was assembled in October 2017 comprised of state executives and led by Alishia Parkhill, SVP of programs and membership at LeadingAge, and Mag Morelli, state executive from Connecticut. The charge of the task force was to address many dues-related issues, one of which was our current national dues structure. We were charged to create a new structure that:
- Avoids calculation errors.
- Reduces year-to-year fluctuations in dues that the millage system produces.
- Creates transparency and equity across the membership.
- Reduces dues for members with the lowest revenues.
- Provides standard exceptions for members that we want in our membership, but who struggle to pay due to high cost.
- Remains revenue neutral for the national association.
After much deliberation and discussion with national and state LeadingAge staff over the course of a year, the task force agreed on a structure that met the goals set forth. We presented to the Executive Forum during the course of our work, and the final proposal was shared with the group in February 2018 to no objection. The LeadingAge board approved the new dues band structure in March 2018.
We created a 10-level dues band structure that provides a flat dues amount for provider members within the band. Each band is defined by a revenue range based on program service revenue, rent, or operating budget figure. The dues amount per band grew from our current millage formula to keep the change as neutral as possible. Only 15%* of our members will see a notable increase or decrease due to our change to bands, and we will work with our states to ensure an easy transition. We were able to create special dues considerations for the following free-standing providers: adult day (flat fee of $200), PACE (flat fee of $2,500), and hospice (50% off band amount). The corporate multisite program accounts will remain on a millage system, at this time, if cumulative PSR is over $27 million.