Patronage Capital

“Patronage Capital”, as defined in Sawnee's Bylaws, is revenue in excess of operating costs and expenses. Patronage capital is assigned to each member of record at the end of each fiscal year. The retirement of patronage capital is controlled by the Bylaws of the Corporation and by certain lender restrictions. Generally, the Board of Directors may approve a retirement of patronage capital when it will not impair the Corporation’s financial condition.

Georgia Law and SEMC’s lenders require that Sawnee EMC collect revenue in excess of its operating costs and expenses ("patronage capital"). The Bylaws of Sawnee EMC require that each member who provides patronage capital have an account in the books and records of the Corporation that tracks how much patronage capital is assigned to that member.

This is when the Board of Directors of the Corporation has determined that it is in the overall best interest of the Corporation to retire the assigned patronage capital for a specific year to the members that provided it. This action is called a “general retirement” of patronage capital, which affects all members of record for a specific year. The Board has made the decision that a patronage capital retirement is to occur and that it will be refunded on a "first-in, first-out" methodology and only those members that provided this capital will receive these funds.

The Bylaws and Policies of Sawnee EMC provide that the Board of Directors of the Corporation may consider and retire, on a discounted basis, patronage capital to the estates of deceased members. These occur at the request of an executor of a deceased member's estate, and are accomplished by a petition from the executor requesting that the retirement occur.

Who does it apply to?

This aspect of patronage capital retirement "only" applies to the estates of deceased members of Sawnee EMC.

How to make a claim?

Executors (and administrators) of an estate of a deceased Sawnee EMC member may voluntarily petition the Board of Directors of the Corporation to settle (close out) that member’s patronage capital account early instead of waiting on a Board approved general retirement to occur. Executors are not required to take this action, and the decision to petition the Corporation for this type of refund is solely at the discretion of the executor of the former member’s estate.

How do I apply?

Listed below is a hyperlink to the petition form to be completed and submitted to the staff of Sawnee EMC for a deceased member's patronage capital refund. Upon receipt of the necessary documents, SEMC’s Board of Directors will consider the request for an early retirement, on a discounted basis, of a deceased former member’s patronage capital account. SEMC Policy 303, Retirement of Capital Credits to Estates of Deceased Members on a Discounted Basis, shown below, provides additional information about this process.

Sawnee EMC's retirement of patronage capital process has been very successful for decades, but sometimes it is difficult to find "former" members of Sawnee who have moved away or did not provide a valid forwarding address with the Cooperative. In short, when a patronage capital retirement occurs, Sawnee simply cannot find these former members in order to give them the money that belongs to them.

To assist in this search effort, Sawnee recently adopted an enhanced outreach program to hopefully address this issue called "Lost Members". Please visit the Lost Members link for further assistance.