By Rodney Thrash, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 3, 2009

OLDSMAR — More than a year after the nonprofit Oldsmar Civic Club dissolved and city officials blasted 10 members for pocketing $240,000 of the organization's leftovers, the group quietly made amends Tuesday night.

During a meeting of the Oldsmar City Council, club members doled out $217,000 to seven local charities and government agencies — the thing they should have done from the start, according to the group's bylaws.

"That money did not belong to me," said Jean Jorgenson, who never cashed her $24,000 check, hired an attorney and shamed eight other members into forking over their shares. "That money should go for the benefit of something in Oldsmar."

The 10th member, Robin Hilliard, moved to New Hampshire a few months before the checks were issued. She received the check in the mail and said she was under the impression the money was hers to keep. She spent it on bills and said she isn't in a position to pay it back.

"I've been out of work for the last eight months," Hilliard said. "If I was to come up with a winning lotto, honey, I would be sending my check right along with everybody else's."

Club members said they do not intend to sue Hilliard to recoup the $24,000.

James and Mary Jane Campoli, who deposited their payouts into a certificate of deposit before returning it, said it would cost more to sue than "we'd probably get out of it."

"We're trying to make this a nice, clean break and be done," said James Campoli, a past president of the group.

Two local tax experts said it may not be that easy.

Darryll Jones, a professor of tax law at Stetson University College of Law, said Hilliard could be hit with a 200 percent excise fine, "despite whatever personal hardships the person is going through."