First Unitarian Brooklyn Budget 2014
Budget Assumptions FY 14
Revenue
Canvass & Contributions
Pledge income for 2014, based on input from the Stewardship Committee has been budgeted at $275,000, less 6% for doubtful pledges. This is an increase from the original canvas goal of $260,000 for the year.
Non-Pledge Contributions and Sunday plate have been increased by 3.0%.
Rents
Apartment Rent for two of our apartments has been increased by 2.5%, to reflect the terms of the renewed leases for our current tenants. The rental on the third apartment has been increased to the market rate of $2,500 per month, for nine months of the year, beginning in September 2013.
Other Rent has been adjusted by removing the rent currently paid certain outside groups and adding rent from First Acoustics. The net impact is zero.
Rent from Ceremonies has been keep even with the amount budgeted in prior years.
Endowment
We have received CPA reviewed financial for the years ended June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2011. Using those financial statements, we have been able to adjust the principal investment amounts for our restricted funds, and therefore been able to more accurately calculate the principal amount of our unrestricted funds. As of March 31, 2013 unrestricted principal was $2,943,145 and the restricted principal balances, as a group was $767,224.
As of March 31, 2013 the congregation had an outstanding loan in the amount of $228,500, related to the work performed on the sanctuary roof in 2010. The board has determined that it was in the best interest of the congregation to repay that loan in full prior to the end of the current fiscal year. This reduced the amount of investable unrestricted principal to approximately $2,714,645. The repayment of the above referenced loan has resulted in a reduction of $9,140 per year in endowment income. However, it will save some $34,800 per year in debt service payments.
Further, based on the congregational voted of May 2012 the prudent draw rate for FY 14 has been reduced from 4.5% to 4.0%, times the average fair market value of the underlying principal, over the past 13 calendar quarters. To some degree this reduction in prudent draw has been offset by increases, over the past twelve months, in the market value of the endowment’s underlying investments.
Program & Congregational Fundraising.
In the interest of conservatism, the revenue from the various components of this income category are consistent with 2013’s budget. Note that the income from the Folk Concert Series {First Acoustics} has been eliminated as this program will be privatized during FY 14.
Expenses
Professional Leadership
The Senior Minister’s Compensation package has been increased by three percent {3.0%}.
The MRE’s compensation package has been reset to $70,000, based on the current market for individuals with those qualifications and the preferred experience level of the final candidate for this position.
Staff Salaries
Salaries for custodial staff have been adjusted given the anticipated reduction in the number of required hours to be worked, given the proposed hiring of a contract cleaning service for the church. Custodial staff’s job descriptions will be amended to reduce their janitorial responsibilities and to increase the amount of their hosting duties. At the same time, the board has increased the hosts’ hourly wage rate to bring it in to line with a living wage.
Two new positions have been added to next year’s budget: A Membership & Communications Director and a Substitute Music Director.
The Membership & Communications Director will be responsible for all interactions with visitors, new comers, and existing membership. Duties will include making newcomers welcome, building community, and coordinating communications with existing members. This is a part time position. It is anticipated that this position will be filled as of September 1, 2013.
The Music Director will receive the benefit of one Sunday off per month, as is common practice in church music programs, effective September 2013. The Substitute Music Director will be hired to coordinate the musical portions of our worship services on those Sundays when the Music Director is off.
Staff Compensation (non-salary)
These expenses are chiefly related to taxes and benefits for the congregation’s staff. Adjustments have been made on the tax lines to reflect the proposed salary increase for existing staff, these lines have also been adjusted for the payroll taxes related to the proposed new hires mentioned above.
Staff health insurance has been increased by ten percent {10%}. While the actual increase, if any, in FY 14 premiums are still unknown; this projected increase is in line with industry averages.
Congregational Life
Budgets for each committee were provided by committee liaisons, with two exceptions. The Council did not hear from representatives of two committees and therefore included expenditures at the same levels budgeted for FY 13.
The expenses associated with the Folk Concert Series have been eliminated. This program will be privatized during FY 14.
Building Related Expenses
Given low rates of inflation the costs related to utilities, phones, insurance, and musical instrument maintenance have all been kept at FY 13 levels.
Janitorial Services has been increase by $12,000. This increase reflects the anticipated additional expenses related to the utilization of a third party contractor to clean the sanctuary, chapel, RE classrooms, and church office and other spaces on a daily / routine basis.
Maintenance – Purchased Services this $12,000 budget includes costs related to the services provided to the Congregation by plumbers, electricians and other tradespeople, on an as needed basis.
Maintenance – Projects includes the estimated costs to complete the repairs to the Pinnacle and the front steps of the sanctuary. In addition, funds are budgeted for the estimated costs of a professional safety survey as well as for contingencies.
Loan Repayment has been eliminated as the underlying loan has been repaid in full, per the Endowment paragraph above. This will result in an annual savings of $34,800.
Denominational Expense
We have kept the level of our contributions to the UUA and the Metro District consistent with FY 13 levels.
General Services
During FY 14 the Congregation will utilize the services of a third party bookkeeping firm. The estimated cost of this service is $12,000. The cost of this new expense item will be partially offset by a reduction in the expenses related to the annual review of our financial statements, as the board has identified an auditing firm that will perform this service for $7,500 per year, as opposed to the $15,000 paid in past years. Moreover, postage expense has been reduced by $2,000, reflecting a decline in the Congregations use of the US Postal Service. $2,000 for the lease of a computer server has been added, all other General Service related expenses have been budgeted at FY 13 levels.
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