Fellow Shooters,

As you have heard, a review of the PITA budget found that an increase in membership and daily fees was necessary.  We have had a few questions as to what lead to these increases and I would like to offer the following in response.

The PITA is a non-profit corporation and our day-to-day expenses are covered by membership and daily fees.  We keep some funds in reserve, but all other funds are returned to the shooters in the form of refunds to the state and provincial associations, added money at the Grand Pacific, and the production of the Grand Pacific itself.

The PITA membership and daily fees are set by the PITA Executive Committee and the last time the fees were increased was 2011.  Since that time, the association has gone through some significant changes:

  • We were unable to reach an agreement with Evergreen Sportsman’s Club for the 2017 Grand Pacific so we moved  the event to the Spokane Gun Club (SGC).  The 2017 contract with SGC included an increase in the price per target and SGC took over the RV reservations, which caused us to lose a significant portion of our annual income.
  • The 2018 Grand Pacific contract with SGC is a flat fee and requires that the PITA do everything.  From scorekeepers and traps to garbage and water, we will be doing it all.  This is a departure from our usual contract and we will need a substantial number of volunteers in order to make a profit on this event, or at least break even.
  • In 2016 our Executive Secretary, Sue Brewer, retired from that position and moved into a part-time position as the PITA Assistant.  At the same time, Rusty Brewer retired from the Assistant Secretary position. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the PITA had a pretty good deal going for many years with Sue in the Executive Secretary position and Rusty in the Assistant Secretary position.  We received much more value than what we were paying in wages.  As such, the cost to hire a new Executive Secretary and continue to pay Sue for half-time work, is significantly higher than it was when we had Sue and Rusty in those positions.

So, in short, the cost of running the PITA has increased and we have reached the point where our membership and daily fees have had to increase as well.  Thank you for your continued membership and please feel free to contact me or any of the members of the PITA Executive Committee if you have any further questions or concerns.

Jennifer Carter, PITA President

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