FY 2018-19 YEAR-END REVIEW
by Ev Anderson, Disbursing Treasurer, Ev1945@gmail.com
We earned $8,823 more than we spent in FY 2018-19 that ended last June. This was due entirely to lower-than-budgeted expenses. This budget surplus will help replenish our depleted Reserve Fund.
- Income and Expenses
We budgeted $260,909 from all sources for 2018-19 but took in $249,075 — a shortfall of $11,834 or 4.5% of budget. This is a smaller deficit than in prior years. The shortfall was in pledges ($238,519 budgeted, $229,338 collected between June, 2018 and September, 2019) and Sunday collections ($13,000 budgeted, $10,703 collected). Sanctuary rental fees were close to target at $3,250. We also raised $1,813 in other income and $267 in fundraising.
With income below budget, how were we able to show a surplus last year?
The answer is that expenses came in well under target. We budgeted $261,586 in expenses last year but spent just $240,252 – a difference of $21,334 or 8.1% of budget. The biggest savings was in RE expenses, as the DRE position was vacant for most of the year. Administrative and minister expenses also came in under target. Thank you, Suzanne and William!
The $8,823 difference between total expenses and income means that we finished “in the black” last year. This sum accordingly will be moved to our Reserve Fund from our fund balance (i.e., “unrestricted net assets.”), as mandated by our Manual of Policy and Procedures (MPP). This will bring the total Reserve Fund balance to $25,869, very close to its ideal level of 10% of the total operating budget.
- Church Funds and Social Justice Outreach
These two categories rely on monies collected and spent entirely outside the annual operating budget. So they require separate accounting.
UUCT operates 20 different church funds. We have funds for Capital Improvement, Harmony Camp, Memorial Gifts, Playground, Music, RE, Freethinkers’ Forum and more. Did you attend the Christmas Eve service? If so, you likely donated to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund, which benefits church members in temporary financial distress. Did you attend a UUCT Coffee House evening? Then you supported the CCE Fund. Excluding the endowment, our church funds took in $16,494 last year and spent $27,765. The heaviest spending was in the Mountain Scholarship Fund ($2,395). It is not unusual for income and outgo to differ in church funds. In FY 2017-18, for example, the income as $37,805, the outgo $27,982. As non-budgeted accounts, the more important issue is whether our church funds had a healthy year-end balance. They did!
Altogether, our church funds posted a year-end balance of $47,543, excluding the $8,823 budget surplus that will be allocated in the current FY 2019-20 to the Reserve Fund. The activity and balances in these funds reflect the wide variety of interests that engage our members after the Sunday services.
Did you drop extra cash into the Sunday collection plate last year? If so, you helped support one of UUCT’s share-the-plate, social justice outreach (SJO) charities. These were Kearney Center / Shelter Meals, Refuge House, UU Justice Florida, Kenyan Partnership Church, Mountain Retreat & Learning Center, UUSC, UU-UNO, Grace Mission, Jefferson Literary Alliance, North Florida Freedom Schools, Big Bend Homeless Coalition, Second Harvest, and UU Fellowship of Bay County. Altogether, we collected and disbursed $10,716 to these worthy organizations – the highest SJO giving level in the last decade.
- The UUCT Balance Sheet
This document measures the wealth of our church. That wealth stood at $3,178,507 as of June 30 — an increase of $63,916 over FY 2017-18. It includes $2,225,455 in fixed assets (buildings and land, unadjusted), as well as $871,621 in our two endowment funds and Muriel Siebert stock account, together with $81,425 in our bank operating account as of June 30.
- Conclusion
Although FY 2018-19 pledges came up 3.8% short of target, this is a respectable return – and a far smaller shortfall than in many years. It reflects confidence in our church mission, minister, and staff. Happily, below-budget expenses more than made up the shortfall in total income, enabling us to restore our depleted Reserve Fund to near perfect health. Meanwhile, UUCT’s share-the-plate charitable donations of $10,716 to our supported SJO charities show how much this congregation cares about the community, country, and world beyond our walls. And thanks to excellent returns in our endowment funds, the church balance sheet continues to grow.
Overall, UUCT ended FY 2018-19 in excellent financial shape.
This is my concluding report as Disbursing Treasurer, a position I have held for six years. It is a pleasure to turn the DT duties over to a man with the superb financial qualifications of Ron Clark.