S&T TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION

Member Owned, Future Focused

The S&T Telephone Cooperative Association

S&T Telephone cooperative’s subscribers/members actually own the company and elect a board of directors that sets policy to represent members’ interests and ensure the company’s success. To do that, board members must be knowledgeable about the cooperative and the evolving telecommunications industry, telco management, state and federal regulation, the competitive environment, and the company’s long-range plans and future prospects. Equally important, directors must communicate that understanding to management and subscribers, and develop the relationships essential to succeed in an indispensable, multibillion-dollar business.

S&T Telephone’s members are those telecommunication subscribers in our ILEC exchanges of Brewster, Dighton, Grinnell, Healy, Kanorado, Levant, Menlo, Russell Springs, and Winona. The subscribers must meet the criteria outlined in the current bylaws. Members are eligible for capital credits. You must understand how the capital credit process works. 

It is equally important that you keep us updated when your situation changes (i.e., address change, divorce, marriage, death of a member, business dissolution, etc.), as it can affect our ability to pay allocated capital credits in the future.

Download the Bylaws

Meet the Board

Ben Cramer

[email protected]
Healy
Board President

Barney Dickman

Don Albers

Steve Heath

Britany Murray

Robin Rogge

Clay Rush

Marilyn Ochs

[email protected]
Russell Springs

Jordan Reid

Capital Credit FAQ

Most frequent questions and answers

S&T Telephone Association, Inc. is a not-for-profit cooperative that is owned by its members. Capital credits are one of the many benefits of membership in the cooperative. At the end of each year, any excess operating margins are allocated to S&T’s members that received service during that year in the form of capital credits. The amount of excess operating margins, if any, varies every year. Capital credits are generally allocated as equity on the cooperative’s books to accounts associated with each member.

S&T sends a notice to members each year showing the amount that has been allocated to them based on the amount billed for their telecommunications services and the associated gross operating margin during that year.

Margins are “allocated” or assigned to members who belong to the cooperative during the year in which a margin is generated. The allocation is based on the member’s proportion of service usage for that year. Each member’s portion is referred to as a “capital credit allocation.”

You begin accumulating capital credits when you begin receiving telecommunications services. S&T sends allocation information annually. Members may request a statement detailing the status of their capital credit accounts.

The amount of capital credits you earn in a given year is based on the amount of capital contributed to the cooperative through payment of your monthly bill for services and the amount of operating margins realized by the cooperative.  Capital Credits are usually retired, which means paid to the member, as a percentage of certain prior year’s allocations.

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S&T customers who are eligible for cooperative membership must live in the S&T Telephone Association, Inc. service area, which includes these communities: Brewster, Dighton, Grinnell, Healy, Kanorado, Levant, Menlo, Russell Springs, and Winona. Customers in these areas must subscribe to telephone or Internet service to qualify for membership.

Each scenario may vary based on the member’s situation.  If a change needs to be made to the membership name, S&T requires legal documents to support the change. Please provide original documents.  The original documents will be returned to you upon request.  Please contact us with any questions concerning your capital credit allocations by email at [email protected].

Please seek assistance from your tax advisor.

When capital credits are retired, meaning a check has been issued and mailed to the member’s address on record, the cooperative sometimes receives returned mail marked “undeliverable.”  It is important to update your mailing address to ensure you receive future capital credit checks. After 24 months, these unclaimed capital credits will be transferred to a donations account and will be unavailable to be reclaimed.

No. Capital credits allocations are simply a record of your pro rata share of the margins. Since the capital is not held in an account and is reinvested to support the operations and growth of the business, the entire balance cannot be retired to you at once. There is no legal obligation imposed on the Cooperative to retire capital credits or to pay out the balances in full. The method, amount and timing of capital credit retirements is at the sole discretion of the board of directors.

Allocated capital credits remain on the S&T’s books in your name and account number until they are retired. Capital credit retirements (payments) are made years after capital credits have been allocated. Please notify us of your new mailing address.

Each year the board of directors reviews the financial status of the cooperative to determine whether a refund is feasible and if so, how much.  While capital credits are allocated every year, they are not automatically retired or refunded to the members every year.  S&T uses margins (i.e. capital credits) to fund the operating activities and upgrades to your infrastructure and equipment, with the intent of repaying this capital to the members in later years.  The Board of Directors strive to operate in a prudent business manner so that the member-owners will continue to have the very best telecommunications services possible at an affordable cost consistent with sound economy and good management.

Allocated Capital Credits are amounts entered on to the cooperative’s permanent financial records representing each member’s pro rata share of annual excess operating margins. Every year, S&T’s Board of Directors reviews the financial health of the cooperative and determines whether any previously allocated Capital Credits will be paid out to members. Capital Credits that are paid out to members are referred to as retired Capital Credits.

It is the return of members’ capital credits. Retiring capital credits is a way of ensuring that each generation of members pays its own way. S&T operates on an at-cost or nonprofit basis by annually allocating to each member, based on the member’s purchase of services, operating revenue remaining at the end of the year. Later, as finances permit, these allocated amounts, or capital credits, are returned to members, by check.