Here’s the unvarnished truth – As of April 30th, our expense has exceeded our income by ~$28,000. The elephant in the room is the question, “Why?”
On the income side, we are experiencing slower fulfillment of pledges than in recent years, but experience tells us that we’ll catch up!
The expense items we need to focus on are the following:
Facility Maintenance: (no surprise here) We are currently handling major roof issues in the CE building, as well as significant overall plumbing/drainage problems.
Utility Costs: Gas is up 41% over last year. We budgeted for a reasonable rate increase, but the main culprit is consumption.
Music Program: Although we have invested more operating money in recent years, the budget overage should lessen as we move to summer programming.
Our Finance Committee (Alan Reed, Lee Stiles, Lucy Vedrich, Malaika O’Rourke, Pam Henderson, Sue Stiles) meets to develop recommendations for the Vestry. Among our recent suggestions were:
Be proactive in resuming Coval Roof lease payments. ($1000/month)
Change current financial policy to allocate all undesignated gifts under $5000 to the Operating Budget, as opposed to distributing them almost entirely to the Endowment Fund. This was approved by the Vestry and will be revisited in April 2024.
Invest in battery powered thermostats, starting with the CE building, and have the installer consult with tenants in H-Vac efficiency.
Include “Holiday Music” with the customary “Holiday Flowers” request prior to Easter and Christmas.
Move toward using reusable bulletins and prayer books during the summer to reduce paper, staff time, and be more environmentally friendly.
Lastly, given our looming large property expenses, you may be interested in the balances in our related reserve accounts as of April 30, 2023:
Capital Reserve - $93,063; Major Maintenance Reserve - $87,941
We are so blessed to have these reserves, but there is much work to do to increase our income and allow us to live into our mission while still living within our means.
Faithfully,
Sue
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