In response to a group of Central Florida lawmakers calling on onePULSE Foundation to be audited this past June, the local organization has just released their 2018 financials, which you can see at the bottom of this post.
Critics have been calling for an audit since onePULSE started to solicit public dollars for their memorial/museum project; they were awarded a $10 million grant from Orange County’s Tourist Development Tax to help break ground on the development which already required an audit take place anyway.
The foundation estimates that a Pulse memorial would draw around 300,000 visitors each year.
The audit was carried out by independent auditors, Holland and Reilly, an Orlando-based firm, and indicates the financial position of the organization as of December 31, 2018.
The foundation saw a total revenue of $1.6 million which includes donations, grants, and earnings from their onsite t-shirt stand at the Pulse property which generated an estimated $8,200 – which also includes online sales.
Expenses included $286,000 on salaries and wages, $110,000 of which was earmarked for Barbara Poma who heads the foundaiton, $109,000 on management fees, $3,500 on travel, and over $90,000 on advertising.
Construction on the new memorial is expected to start in early 2021 with an opening in 2022.
