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Lincoln day care needs money or it may close
By Kevin Barlow
kbarlow@pantagraph.com
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LINCOLN -- A not-for-profit Lincoln day-care center needs to raise $250,000 by the end of the month or face closing its doors after 18 years.

Christian Child Care, 721 Wyatt Ave., is a non-denominational ministry with 71 children enrolled.

“I’ve got a lot of people on fire out there doing whatever they can to keep us open,” said Director Cheryl Lynn Tatum. “We hope it’s enough.”

Tatum has been on the job for only three months, but is worried she won’t make it to April. The center owes thousands of dollars in back taxes and other debts, and the government is threatening to shut the facility April 1.

Concerned parents and others met March 13 after learning the center owes more than $75,000 for federal payroll taxes that went unpaid from fall 2006 until fall 2007. Another approximate $100,000 is owed for supplies, food, equipment and rent.

Jennifer DiPasquale, chairman of a new board of directors, blamed mismanagement – not criminal intent – for the problems.

“As a board, we all failed to adequately supervise the operations of CCC and oversee its financial health,” DiPasquale said. “Consequently, we did not begin to uncover the true extent of the financial difficulties … .”

No criminal charges are pending. The Internal Revenue Service says it is monitoring the situation, and will wait until after March 31 to discuss options.

Since the March 13 meeting, all board members have resigned. Staff has been cut from 37 to 16, with five part-time employees.

“We are looking at what we owe and trying to prioritize our responsibilities,” Tatum said. “Everything has to be paid and we understand that. But in order to have any chance at repaying those debts, we have to remain open. If there is no revenue coming in, we can’t pay any bills at all.

“We are trying to determine how much our creditors will accept and if it will be enough to keep us going,” Tatum said. “In addition to that, we’re looking to the community for any help we can get. We need businesses and civic groups to really step forward and donate whatever they can, but that is a lot of money to raise and a short time to do it in.”

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Reader comments on this story - 1 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Woodford Pundit wrote on Mar 25, 2008 8:08 AM:

" Any business person knows that the first thing you pay is your payroll tax. This is gross mismanagement. The place needs to be closed.
Don't dump money into this thing. Start over with new people and backers. It's a shame but it's more of a shame that it was let go to get to this point. "
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