36
R. F. Barreiros et al.
(e) Job creation and tax payments by the cooperative can be considered as sources
of social benefits. Given that the economic activity of the cooperative generates approximately 1200 direct jobs, this means making income possible for
hundreds of families. As the cooperative, in its economic activity, pays municipal, state, and federal taxes, it is feeding the government systems, which are
responsible for returning the taxes generated through social benefits and infrastructure. In the generation of taxes comes the question of agro-industries. Some
taxes that Agraria collects are calculated based on revenues, currently exceeding
three billion reais. Other taxes like Income tax and social contributions are calculated on net financial surpluses of operations derived from non-cooperative acts.
This flow shows that as revenues and financial surpluses increase, more taxes
are collected;
(f) The economic strength of Entre Rios—the largest district in Brazil—is due to
Agraria’s economic activities. Twelve thousand people live in the district, most
of them with some direct or indirect connection with Agraria or its members.
Agraria is responsible for much of the taxes collected by companies in Guarapuava. Without the taxes collected by Agraria, Guarapuava would have a significant loss in the Municipal Participation Fund. On the other hand, Entre Rios
misses the application of municipal resources in the maintenance of basic social
services and investments in infrastructure very much;
(g) As Agraria assumes and maintains a series of investments in the social segment,
this reinforces the ties that its members have with the cooperative. The relations
of the members with the cooperative begin to transcend a purely economic
issue since the children of the members are educated in a school maintained by
the cooperative; medical emergencies that occur with community members are
resolved at the hospital maintained by Agraria; and cultural activities that bring
people closer to the community are promoted by the Foundation maintained by
the cooperative. Agraria subsidizes all this, but with resources that come from
the members themselves, who feel responsible for these benefits. This process
reinforces the identity of individuals with the collective and feeds back the
culture of the organization and the community itself, which has its essential value
in cooperation. The preservation of this value is fundamental in the succession
of generations;
(h) The objective assessment of the social benefits generated by the cooperative
is difficult to do. Controlling the investments made is easy, but the benefits
generated are diffuse and distributed over time. A possible indirect form of
evaluation would be through member satisfaction surveys, which are conducted
every two years at the cooperative, or by monitoring the degree of direct or indirect participation of members in the administration, maintenance and activities
of organizations maintained by the cooperative. Despite this difficulty of objective evaluation, there is a conviction that members realize the social benefits
generated by the cooperative, by the very continuity of investments, which they
formally approve, at the ordinary annual meetings. There is usually no question of such subsidies, and on the contrary, some members even think that, as
R. F. Barreiros et al.
(e) Job creation and tax payments by the cooperative can be considered as sources
of social benefits. Given that the economic activity of the cooperative generates approximately 1200 direct jobs, this means making income possible for
hundreds of families. As the cooperative, in its economic activity, pays municipal, state, and federal taxes, it is feeding the government systems, which are
responsible for returning the taxes generated through social benefits and infrastructure. In the generation of taxes comes the question of agro-industries. Some
taxes that Agraria collects are calculated based on revenues, currently exceeding
three billion reais. Other taxes like Income tax and social contributions are calculated on net financial surpluses of operations derived from non-cooperative acts.
This flow shows that as revenues and financial surpluses increase, more taxes
are collected;
(f) The economic strength of Entre Rios—the largest district in Brazil—is due to
Agraria’s economic activities. Twelve thousand people live in the district, most
of them with some direct or indirect connection with Agraria or its members.
Agraria is responsible for much of the taxes collected by companies in Guarapuava. Without the taxes collected by Agraria, Guarapuava would have a significant loss in the Municipal Participation Fund. On the other hand, Entre Rios
misses the application of municipal resources in the maintenance of basic social
services and investments in infrastructure very much;
(g) As Agraria assumes and maintains a series of investments in the social segment,
this reinforces the ties that its members have with the cooperative. The relations
of the members with the cooperative begin to transcend a purely economic
issue since the children of the members are educated in a school maintained by
the cooperative; medical emergencies that occur with community members are
resolved at the hospital maintained by Agraria; and cultural activities that bring
people closer to the community are promoted by the Foundation maintained by
the cooperative. Agraria subsidizes all this, but with resources that come from
the members themselves, who feel responsible for these benefits. This process
reinforces the identity of individuals with the collective and feeds back the
culture of the organization and the community itself, which has its essential value
in cooperation. The preservation of this value is fundamental in the succession
of generations;
(h) The objective assessment of the social benefits generated by the cooperative
is difficult to do. Controlling the investments made is easy, but the benefits
generated are diffuse and distributed over time. A possible indirect form of
evaluation would be through member satisfaction surveys, which are conducted
every two years at the cooperative, or by monitoring the degree of direct or indirect participation of members in the administration, maintenance and activities
of organizations maintained by the cooperative. Despite this difficulty of objective evaluation, there is a conviction that members realize the social benefits
generated by the cooperative, by the very continuity of investments, which they
formally approve, at the ordinary annual meetings. There is usually no question of such subsidies, and on the contrary, some members even think that, as