UUCT’s budget of $325,883 for fiscal year 2023-24 represented an increase of $13,439, or 4.3%, over the prior year’s budget of $312,444. The largest budgeted increases in expenses were 17% for Building and Grounds and 8% for Administration, mainly for technology due to higher costs of the new audiovisual system. Minister expenses were budgeted to decrease by 3%. Budgeted income of $260,268, a decrease of 13% from the prior year, relied on the treatment of transfers of $33,115 from the Reserve Fund and $32,500 from the Endowment Fund as income in order to create a balanced budget. The financial results differed considerably from the budget. A combination of income exceeding budget and expenses below budget resulted in a surplus for the year without using any of the budgeted transfers from the Reserve Fund or the Endowment Fund.
- Income and Expenses
Total pledge income received of $273,971 exceeded budget by $28,703. That excess largely resulted from receiving $73,558 in prepaid pledges, an increase of $35,320 over FY 2022-23. Rental fee income of $6,897 far exceeded the $2,500 budget. The miscellaneous category Other Income received $3,508, also well above the budgeted $1,500. Dividend and interest income was close to budget at $3,171. Receipts from all sources totaled $294,827. This income was $34,559 over budget, similar to the increase in prepaid pledges over the prior year. All major categories of budgeted expenses were below budget, but by largely varying amounts. Administration, Building and Grounds and Music expenses ranged from 92.6% to 97.9% of budget. Expenses for Religious Exploration, 83.4% of budget, and Minister, 81.7% of budget, resulted from month and a half vacancies in both positions early in the fiscal year. Committees expended $1,343 less than their combined budgets, but that was offset by the loss of $1,346 on the sale of $15,000 of our Vanguard short-term bond fund. A $65,615 excess of expenses over income was budgeted for the fiscal year. This deficit was budgeted to be offset by transfers of $33,115 from the Reserve Fund and $32,500 from the Endowment Fund. However, budgeted income exceeded expenses by $2,663 without taking any portion of the budgeted transfers. - Church Funds and Social Justice Outreach
These two categories rely on monies collected and spent entirely outside the annual operating budget and require separate accounting. UUCT operates 24 separate church funds in addition to the Endowment Fund. For the year church funds had income of $10,440 and expenses of $17,310. Church funds that received more than $500 of income were the Reserve Fund ($4,452), Minister’s Discretionary Fund ($1,550), Harmony Camp Fund ($1,144) and the Community Connections Fund ($1,967). Church fund expenses exceeded $500 for the Reserve Fund ($6,554), Capital Improvement Fund ($4,141), Minister’s Discretionary Fund ($3,578) and the Community Connections Fund ($1,575).
Several transactions affected the Reserve Fund this fiscal year. Three checks totaling $494 written the prior fiscal year were voided and posted to the Reserve Fund. The $3,959 insurance settlement for lightning damage to our new audiovisual system and an equal amount of lightning damage repair cost were recorded to the Reserve Fund, exactly offsetting each other. Reserve Fund expenses for tree removal and concrete work totaled $2,596. Church funds, excluding the Endowment Fund, had a year-end balance of $83,660. The Reserve Fund is by far the largest, with a balance of $51,595. The activity and balances in these funds reflect the wide variety of interests that engage our members outside Sunday services. We also maintain two accounts that were created to recognize legacies left to UUCT. At the end of the fiscal year the DeLos De Tar Legacy balance was $30,000 and the Linda Logan Legacy balance was $24,967. These accounts are occasionally approved for payment of unbudgeted expenses. This year the Linda Logan Legacy was used to pay $10,286 of expenses related to the audiovisual system, a new videoconferencing system and Reverend EN Hill’s relocation expense. Each Sunday UUCT takes up a collection to support our social justice outreach (SJO) charities. Half of each Share-the-Plate collection is donated to the charity designated for that day and half goes toward our operating budget. For this year our SJO donation total of $10,617 was spread among 15 charities. Donations were made to the following SJO charities: Manna on Meridian, Kearney Center, ReThink Energy, Food Not Bombs, Family Promise Big Bend, Grace Mission, Second Harvest, Tallahassee Food Network, Humanists of Tallahassee, Tallahassee NAACP, Tallahassee Community Action Committee, City Walk Urban Mission, Indaba Theatre of Florida, Capital Tea Safe House and Little Sunshine Pantries. Details of SJO disbursements are shown in the SJO Disbursements tab of the FY 2023-24 Year-End Report.
- UUCT Balance Sheet
The balance in our Synovus Bank account, plus deposits in transit, was $52,384, very close to our target of two months of budgeted expenses. The Vanguard short-term bond fund balance decreased to $82,490 due to mainly to the $15,000 sale of shares. The FY 2023-24 Year-End Report shows the estimated net worth of the church as $3,738,292, an increase of $162,640 over June 30, 2023. All but about $10,000 of that increase was due to the $152,727 increase in the Endowment Fund. Assets consist of $1,381,575 in our two endowment funds and the Muriel Siebert account, $47,134 in our Synovus Bank account, $5,250 deposits in transit, $82,490 in the Vanguard short-term bond account, and $2,225,455 unadjusted estimate of the value of UUCT’s buildings, furniture, equipment and land. The $6,894 unrealized loss on the Vanguard account is not shown since this report is based on valuation rather than cost. Liabilities consisted of $102 credit card payable and $2,997 staff retirement liability. - Conclusion
The total of pledges received in FY 2023-24 of $273,971 was $28,703, or 11.7%, over budget and resulted from a large increase in prepaid pledges compared to previous years. Total budgeted income $294,827 was $34,559, or 13.3%, over budget. The expense total of $292,164 was $33,719, or 10.3%, under budget. Two staff vacancies early in the fiscal year lasting a month and a half were responsible for about $27,000 of the reduced expenses. UUCT achieved a $2,663 surplus without making any part of either of the budgeted transfers. At year-end our Synovus Bank and Vanguard bond fund operating accounts totaled about $135,000. The Endowment Fund accounts increased 12.4% in value and ended the year with balances totaling about $1.38 million. The Reserve Fund year-end balance of $51,595 remains well above the target of 10% of the operating budget. UUCT continues to be in sound financial condition.