Lawrence chef Ken Baker works to prepare sauces for the first dish to be presented to those attending the Chef's Dinner to support Just Food on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015 at Cider Gallery, 810 Pennsylvania.

Fundraising for the embattled Douglas County food bank Just Food is off to a fast start, but answers to questions about how the nonprofit managed to let more than $60,000 in payroll taxes go unpaid are coming more slowly.

Lawrence attorney Dan Watkins, who is serving as a spokesman for Just Food during its financial struggles, said Just Food received strong community support at a Thursday evening fundraiser that featured gourmet meals and wine prepared by area chefs. Watkins said the event sold out all 100 tickets at $100 per ticket. Watkins estimated the nonprofit probably raised around $9,000 after expenses were paid.

“It was a very good evening,” he said. “It was a very good showing of support.”

Lawrence chef Ken Baker works to prepare sauces for the first dish to be presented to those attending the Chef's Dinner to support Just Food on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015 at Cider Gallery, 810 Pennsylvania.

The Chef’s Table event had been scheduled prior to the surprise resignation earlier this month of former executive director Jeremy Farmer, who also resigned as a Lawrence city commissioner, following revelations that he failed to pay $61,000 in federal and state payroll taxes for the food bank.

Thursday’s event was the biggest fundraiser yet for the nonprofit since the payroll tax issue came to light. Elizabeth Keever, interim executive director for Just Food, said proceeds from Thursday’s event won’t go toward the tax debts, but rather were already earmarked to help with cooking classes the organization provides. But she said the event was a good sign nonetheless.

“The fact that it was a sellout shows me that the community understands what we really need to be doing, and that is fighting hunger,” Keever said.

Just Food interim director Elizabeth Keever addresses Chef's Dinner attendees, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, at Cider Gallery, 810 Pennsylvania.

Watkins said some supporters of the organization also are privately raising funds in the community to help the organization meet its tax obligations and keep the doors open at the food bank, which is the largest in the county.

Watkins said Just Food likely will know within 30 to 60 days whether it will be successful in negotiating payment plans with the IRS and state officials.

In the meantime, Just Food officials are trying to sort out a host of questions about financial mismanagement during Farmer’s approximately four-year tenure as executive director. Last week Watkins said the board had determined Farmer dismissed the organization’s outside accountant without the board’s knowledge, and had misled the board on matters related to the unpaid taxes.

Signs point to the accountant having been dismissed more than a year ago, Watkins has said. It has been unclear how the Just Food board failed to recognize that the accountant was no longer preparing reports for the organization. The 2013 tax return filed by Just Food was not signed by an accountant. The 2012 return was signed by an accounting firm.

On Friday, Watkins said he’s not certain that the Just Food board of directors ever reviewed the 2013 tax return. Watkins said it is clear that a major reason the board was unaware is because Farmer never disclosed to the board that he had made the accounting change.

“He didn’t tell them,” Watkins said.

There are also questions about what type of raises Farmer received during the time period that payroll taxes went unpaid. It previously has been reported that Farmer’s salary increased from approximately $30,000 in 2012 to about $60,000 in 2013, according to figures listed on tax returns for Just Food.

But Watkins on Friday said he’s not sure those figures tell the whole story. He said it now appears that Just Food’s tax return for 2012 didn’t cover the entire year. It is possible, Watkins said, that Farmer was paid more than $30,000 in 2012, but it wasn’t listed that way on the Just Food tax return. Just Food was started with the help of the East Central Kansas Economic Opportunity Corp. Watkins said it is possible part of Farmer’s salary in 2012 was paid by that organization, and thus didn’t show up on the 2012 Just Food tax return. Articles of incorporation for Just Food do show the food bank became its own stand-alone legal entity in April of 2012, which would make it possible that the 2012 tax return would not show Farmer’s full salary for the year.

“I don’t think he really went from $30,000 to $60,000,” Watkins said.

But there are documents that suggest Farmer was receiving raises during the time period that the payroll taxes went unpaid by Farmer. A financial spreadsheet that Just Food inadvertently made public on its website last year lists information about its 2015 budget and also provides projected spending totals for 2014.

That document lists a budget figure of $66,500 for Farmer’s 2015 salary. That’s up from a projected 2014 salary of $60,980. Farmer’s total budgeted compensation was listed as $77,650 for 2015 on the spreadsheet. That amount included money for health insurance and about $5,000 for a retirement contribution and $2,700 for an expense allowance, although it is not clear from the document what that allowance covered.

The Journal-World asked for a copy of the approved 2015 budget for Just Food, but Watkins said he did not have a copy of the budget to provide to the newspaper. Watkins said a copy of the budget needed to come from board president Kristi Henderson, who was unavailable on Friday.

Watkins said many of the financial questions related to 2014 will be addressed in an upcoming audit. The board is working to hire a firm to conduct the audit. Watkins said he hopes an audit can be completed by the end of October.

“We intend to be as transparent as possible on all of this, but I can’t answer some of these questions today,” Watkins said. “If I could answer these questions today, I would.”

Keever, the interim executive director, said food donations to Just Food are holding up, but are struggling to keep up with increased demand this summer.

She said the food bank hasn’t seen a decline in food donations following Farmer’s resignation.

“We always need more food,” she said. “Our shelves are not necessarily stocked the way we would like. But the community has been incredibly supportive.”