Dear Parishioners, +JMJ
Canon Law requires us once a year to make a “financial disclosure” to the parish. That is the purpose of this bulletin letter, along with the condensed end-of-year balance sheet, profit and loss statement and major projects list. Although I consider this the official annual disclosure, all that we do year-long certainly is part of our attempt at financial transparency: running totals for Sunday collections in the bulletin each week and highlights from finance meetings throughout the year. The fiscal year we are covering is July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019.
From our end-of-year balance sheet you can see that we have $357,562 in total savings. This includes $3,676 in our mission fund, and $82,277 in our maintenance fund. This maintenance amount includes money still tagged for the Paulding rectory repairs. Finally it includes from our diocesan deposit & loan savings $242,475.
In our checking account we have $29,034. This is the account from which we pay our weekly bills.
Our vocation endowment has increased over the last couple of years from its initial amount (from Doris Phlipot) of $100,00 to $111,522. The school endowment is at $130,013.
From the income section functional statement of activities you can see that our Sunday and holiday collections for the year were $567,325. This was only $600 short of what we budgeted for the year – a sign of the ongoing generosity of our parishioners. Although we increased the budgeted weekend collections to accommodate necessary cost-of-living raises for parish and school staff and teachers, parishioners stepped up to meet the goal. Thank you! Also, about $11,000 of our collection income each month comes in the form of automatic withdrawal. Thank you for that as well. Automatic withdrawal is awesome, because it keeps the donations coming in during the summer, when many people are out at the lake for a well-deserved break. We don’t get a break from the bills, however, so it is super helpful to have the automatic withdrawal donations coming in steadily, even during the summer months. Dianne Jones can answer any questions people have about automatic withdrawal giving.
The school income included $184,647 in tuition and other tuition payments (Ed Choice state scholarships and Jon Petersen scholarships). I am happy to report that with our use of FACTS for tuition management and payments, we have greatly reduced the incidence of unpaid tuition that we had in the past. “Other income” ($23,330) in the school column includes generous donations from the alumni committee efforts. They were very fruitful. The mandated services amount of $67,840 is reimbursement for all of the state-required activities that we still fulfill as a private school.
While I am writing about the school, I should point out that given all of the amounts in the last paragraph, we have greatly reduced the parish subsidy to the school. The ideal proposed to us by the Diocese is 15%, and we are now at 17%. That is great progress over these past few years!
On the expense part of the functional statement of activities you have many set expenses: salary, fringe benefits, office expenses, parish operations, instructional expenses. These are not very flexible. Then we have the building expenses, which includes repairs throughout the year. Hopefully we have tackled most of the major repairs, but “there is always something” to repair. Because of the moral obligation to give a cost-of-living raise to our parish and school employees, and because of the certain increase in utilities costs and costs to repair things, I hope that all of our parishioners will once again prayerfully consider a small increase in giving for this coming fiscal year.
Finally in this bulletin you have the major maintenance projects from this fiscal year. As in the past four years, this year we also accomplished a lot to keep up our buildings. We installed new doors at our campuses, for increased security. Then a new sidewalk for the utility shed at Paulding. Then the parking pad by the Payne Morton building, which helps immensely for parking when school is in session, and for Friday fish-fry days, when Knights need access to the Morton building. Then the repairs to the Antwerp rectory. Then the various repairs to the rectory. You will note the very generous donations to the rectory projects, as well as for the school improvements. Rectory improvements include privacy fencing, front porch repair and downpayment for the exterior siding and other repairs (tuck-pointing, wrapping windows, re-caulking, filling foundation gaps). The siding on the rectory was just completed, as I am sending this letter. We met the fundraising goal also, even given the extra expenses we incurred from having to wrap the colored trim accents in metal. Parishioners have been very generous with this project, as usual. Finally, generous donations came in to cover the major portion of the new cooler for the hall at Payne.
School improvements included new library bookshelves, which saved us a ton of space in the pre-school classroom. Then an unbreakable playground border. Then new thermostats and a new furnace, to replace one that was all-but-defunct. We also installed a new phone system, with many additional features that were needed, including portability for office workers who have to walk down the hallway to handle certain phone calls.
So, there are the highlights to get you through the end-of-year reports included in this bulletin. If you have any questions, please call Dianne Jones at the parish office.
Let me take this opportunity to thank everybody for their amazing generosity this past fiscal year! We simply could not run the parish, without consistent giving from parishioners who take ownership of the parish financially, and with volunteerism/ministries. I understand the desire and need to give back to the Lord. I have to do the same myself, as a priest – even financially. And our parishioners evidently know this and go above and beyond. In addition to meeting our Sunday and holiday collection budget, parishioners even managed the various extra projects that we were not budgeted into the normal operations for the fiscal year. That’s amazing! Thank you for your support of the parish!
Have a blessed week!
In cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Father Poggemeyer
