As many are already aware, Clearwater’s Heritage Days celebration has been postponed this year with the hope that it will be later taking place sometime this fall.

The postponement came after a clerical error was found during planning for this year’s event and it was discovered that the federal tax-exempt status for Clearwater Heritage Days had been revoked due to failure to file a Form 990-N return as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

“As soon as the error was found we started to work on correcting the error,” said Kait Vrchota, event organizer. “However, that takes time to get corrected and investigate why it happened.”

Because they didn’t want to wait until the last minute to cancel Heritage Days, the difficult decision was made to postpone it. 

“We are waiting on responses to see what time will allow this year,” said Vrchota. “If time does not allow [holding Heritage Days] we will have a big comeback next year.”

Although an organization’s name may be on the IRS’s auto-revocation list, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s currently revoked, as the problem may have already been remedied or is in the process of being remedied. An organization can maintain its tax-exempt status if it follows IRS’s rules affecting private benefit/inurement, lobbying, political campaign activity, unrelated business income, annual reporting obligation, and operation in accordance with stated exempt purpose(s).

Heritage Days updates will be posted over the next few weeks as more information becomes available.

“Please remember everyone is human and mistakes happen,” said Vrchota. “We are diligently working to have this remedied as soon as possible.”

Residents are encouraged to reach out with questions by emailing ClearwaterHeritageDays@gmail.com.

An annual event, Heritage Days has a long history in Clearwater, filled with a parade and fun events for residents of all ages.