April 27-28, 2024
Dear parishioners,
I would like to provide you with a summary of our most recent finance council meeting:
At the time of our last meeting, our Sunday collections were $19,576 under budget; as of this past weekend’s bulletin you probably noticed that that deficit widened to $22,046. There are a few factors that play into this. First, of course, is that a handful of parishioners have stopped giving to the offertory. A second factor is that a number of parishioners who have died within the past year were active donors when they died. Obviously, this has an impact on this year’s income, but it is important to keep in mind that the death of active donors affects parish income in the years to come as well.
Another item about which I have regularly updated everyone is the utility expenses. You remember, of course, that during the Covid pandemic and thereafter, utility prices went much higher than anyone expected. As such, for the last couple of years our utility expenses were higher than budgeted. This year, we once again increased the budget for utilities and we are currently showing that our utility expenses are slightly under budget. As finance council discussed this item, it was noted that one of the factors that helped us stay under budget is that we experienced a rather mild winter. This reality also meant that we did not have to pay as much as expected for snow removal.
From the Mission Fund, the Parish donated $500 to the Hands of Hope Spring Fundraiser, and $100 to the Defiance College Empty Bowls fundraiser.
During the “Old Business” section of the finance council meeting, I updated those present on the progress of the Capital Campaign. As of the time of the meeting, $900,320 had been received in pledges. It was noted that a few parishioners have died who initially made pledges. A total of $340,631 had been actually donated to the Capital Campaign. Kindly remember that as donations are made to the campaign, half of the donation goes to the diocesan portion of the campaign, while the other half is made available to the parish. This split continues until we have fulfilled our portion of the diocesan campaign, which is $367,000. After our portion of the diocesan campaign is fulfilled, 100% of donations will come to the parish. This means, of course, that about $170,000 has been due to the parish from the start of the campaign. As you remember, we used these capital campaign funds to repair the tuck-pointing on the Paulding church and to replace the roof and gutters on the Paulding Ed Center.
In the “New Business” section of the meeting, I updated the council on the next project to be done, which is to repave the parking lots on the Paulding campus. At this point, I presented the council with the three proposals that we received. After thorough review, the council approved moving forward with this project, and we are hoping to schedule it in the coming months. The project will involve milling out the existing parking lots, repaving them, restriping them, and replacing a few of the parking blocks. The total cost for this project will be $51,547. This project will be funded entirely by the money already available to the parish from the capital campaign. Thank you again for your generosity!
The last item covered at the meeting was a recap of the school gym renovations. The conclusion of this renovation will be the installation of sound-absorbing panels throughout the space. The cost of this project, $34,000, will be covered entirely by the Covid relief money that is still available to the school. It was noted that the entire renovation of the school gym would not have been possible without the flood of government money that was given as part of Covid relief packages. Kindly note that these same government funds were restricted funds and could only be used for specific items at the school. These Covid relief packages expire at the end of this summer.
Blessings,
Fr. Ammanniti
