P.O. Box 111, Duluth, MN 55801

TEL: (218) 740-3175 FAX: (218) 740-3179 EMAIL info@MnResponsibleRec.org

April 6, 2004

On December 23, 2003 the St. Louis County Board voted off the agenda and without public notice or comment to recommend conversion of the North Shore State Trail to ATV use. Rep. David Dill testified in defense of this decision at the board’s next meeting declaring that ATV and snowmobile clubs should get what they want because they are "volunteer" run. Accustomed to following the money trail MRR soon discovered that Rep. David Dill himself was enjoying substantial, personal, financial gain as "Trail Administrator" of his own snowmobile club and that he appears to be involved in a number of conflicts of interest regarding these funds.

Northern Minnesota state Representative David Dill, who recently testified before the St. Louis County Board that snowmobile and ATV clubs are "volunteer" run, appears to have been caught with his hand in the public till, "double-dipping," and using public trail funds to pay off pull-tab gambling arrangements with the local American Legion. Rep. Dill, was recently earning at least $40,000 a year as a snowmobile club "volunteer", getting his family health insurance paid by the club, and billing the city and the club for the same trips in his car and private plan for meetings that appear to not even have occurred. Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation says this situation reveals a tip of the iceberg in which club members have been paying themselves with public funds for decades.

• Voyageur Trail Society receives $80,000 annually to groom snowmobile trails. Yet on Line 43 b, Page 2 of a 2001 IRS 990 report, the snowmobile club reported using only $8,370 for "Trail Grooming". What has happened to the remaining $70,630?
  
• Also on the 2001 IRS 990 $40,000 was given to the "Crane Lake Snowmobile Club". What is happening with this $40,000? David Dill is club president but the club is not a 501 c3 and is not required to report.
  
• Why doesn’t the 2001 IRS 990 report any payroll tax? Why doesn’t the 2001 IRS 990 report any employees? The "compensation" of $34, 784 reported on Line 25, Page 2 does not appear to include the salaries of David Dill and four other employees.

• City of Orr $5000 annual payment to Rep. David Dill for Trail Administrator work performed on city time.

• Double Dipping for Public Trail Funds? October, 2001 Requests for Reimbursement suggest David Dill got paid for the same trips for both his car and private plane. An April 5, 2004 Timberjay News article says the listed reason for at least one trip was for a hearing which did not occur.

MRR requests for information increasingly reveal that it is common place that the paid Trail Administrators who receive public trail funds for snowmobile and ATV clubs are often also employed by the same local government sponsors who are charged with overseeing the club’s use of these public funds. A 2003 state audit (below) recommends that local government sponsors should be prohibited from assigning oversight responsibility to staff who are officers or bookkeepers of the club." The City of Orr is the local government sponsor and fiscal agent for Voyageur Trail Society. Representative David Dill is simultaneously the City of Administrator of Orr and Trail Administrator of VTSI. In fact, review of 10 years of VTSI documents reveal that Dave Dill and VTSI are one in the same. Public funding requests, club minutes, and proposals are almost all authored by Dave Dill. Dave Dill keeps club files on his computer in the city office. Concerns that Dills dual role in both the city and snowmobile club could compromise the city’s ability to hold the club accountable for misuse of public funds is one thing that prompted MRR to seek the current State Auditor investigation.

• $80,000 Snowmobile Trail Grooming request from Rep. David Dill, Trail Administrator, who while getting paid $2,250 per month claims no "Labor" costs in annual public trail grant request
• Rep. David Dill directs City of Orr clerk to request reimbursement on his behalf, creating the appearance that he is one step removed from these requests. 3-10-04 Public Funds Request, 1-12-04 Request, 1-12-04 Request

If fiscal agent staff who provide public information that raises questions are fired, who will oversee the use of Minnesota’s public trail funds?

April 3, 2004 Duluth News-Tribune