W000198
Thursday, November 08, 2001 3:22 PM
Operation of fund
Just wanted to briefly state my opinion on the matter:
I understand the dilemma you must be in: on the one
hand, you don't want to discourage charitable giving
by reducing fund disbursements should victims or their
families be compensated by other sources, but on the
other hand taxpayers should be protected from double
dipping.
My personal opinion tends to the later. The idea is to
compensate people; not enrich them. Perhaps some sort
of compromise is possible: a contribution ceiling for
each family can be determined based on factors such as
the age of the victim, number of children he/she had,
the victim's total worth, prior earnings, etc. If a
private charity conferred enough funds to meet that
family's ceiling, then the government need not
allocate any additional monies to that family. If not,
the government can step in and fill in the difference.
Individual Comment