Sister Cities Assn. in good IRS standing

Sister Cities Assn. of Laguna Beach verified this week that they are not the organization the Internal Revenue Service listed for non-payment of taxes.

The IRS released a lengthy list of Orange County organizations that lost their nonprofit status because the revenue service claimed they had not filed financial statements for three consecutive years.

Forty-one Laguna Beach organizations were listed, including the Sister City Committee of Laguna, which is not the association in Laguna.

“We are in good standing,” said association spokesman Richard Schwarzstein. “They said our records are perfect.”

Other organizations listed included the North Laguna Community Assn., the Laguna Canyon Conservancy, Kalos Kalgathos Title Holding and Kalos Kalgathos Foundation. Laguna Beach Chamber Music Society was also listed, but is located in Irvine.

The IRS claimed 2,200 organizations in Orange County had automatically lost their nonprofit status because of faulty filing. Since 2007, all nonprofits have been required to file financial information with the IRS.

Schwarzstein said that when the list was made public, his organization had properly filed required statements.

Barbara Diamond