Dear parishioners,
As we do every year, we will soon be mailing the 2021-2022 Annual Financial Report. I would like to provide here a preview of what you will find in the report. Kindly remember that the diocesan fiscal year is July 1 – June 30.
Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for your generous support of our parish week after week. Our Sunday and Holyday collections finished $41,701 over budget, which is wonderful! As I noted a few weeks ago in the bulletin, when we entered into Covid restrictions a few years ago, we lowered the weekly collection budget from $8,500 to $8,200. That remained true for 2021-2022 fiscal year. Please note however that for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, we have returned the weekly collection budget to $8,500.
Our Christmas and Easter collections were both under budget this year. Combined, they were $5,912 below the anticipated income.
Our parish operational expenses finished pretty close to our budgeted amount. At the end of the fiscal year, our parish operations were only $1,650 over budget. Noteworthy in this category is that the rectory operational expenses were about 50% under budget and our liturgical purchases were well under budget too.
As everyone experienced the rise in utility prices this year, so too did our parish. Our utility expenses were $8,421 over budget because of rising costs. Also in the category of building costs, I would like to remind everyone that every dollar of the rectory basement project was donated as restricted gifts specifically for that project. This means, of course, that none of that project came from our operating budget or from the building and maintenance fund.
Lastly, I would like to forewarn everyone that you will see a little bit of red ink on the Annual Financial Report. While I mentioned above that our operational expenses were almost right on the mark, our investments, on the other hand, suffered in the last quarter of our fiscal year. Just as almost everyone across the country experienced the rough waters of the stock market in the last few months, so too did our investments. Because of the recent volatility in the market, our three investment accounts (parish investment account, school endowment, vocation endowment) show a combined loss of $77,483 for the last quarter of the diocesan fiscal year. Please note, however, that our parish investment account and vocation endowment are currently still above the principal amount on both accounts. Our school endowment is slightly below the principal amount. We expect these accounts to bounce back once the market settles, but as with anything pertaining to the stock market, there is no guarantee on when that might happen. As a result of these losses in our investments in our last quarter, our parish’s overall net income for the fiscal year is showing a deficit, finishing at -$2,657.
As always, if you have any questions on the above information, or on any of the contents of the Annual Report please do not hesitate to contact me or Dianne Jones at the parish office.
Blessings to you all,
Fr. Ammanniti
