I am honored to have been re-elected as your Treasurer. I realized that there is not much communication about our finances during the year so have committed to providing at least quarterly reports during the year.
Although the church year is July – June, the financials have been handled on a calendar year basis for the past few years. This makes various reporting requirements a bit easier. So we are now halfway through our fiscal year.
As of June 30, we are tracking fairly well with the budget for most line items. Thanks to all of you, our pledges, and other donations are on track and expenses are tracking pretty much on target.
It has been the case however that for the past few years budgeted expenses have exceeded budgeted income so the difference to cover expenses has come from the Endowment Fund. The fund itself has done well and continues to hover at about $1,000,000. This fund was established many years ago as a way to assure the long term success of East Shore. So far this year we have transferred $100,000 from the fund to assure sufficient cash to cover payroll. With the deposit of $120,000 from Blue Fern the company purchasing the Holly House property it is hoped that we won’t need another Endowment transfer this year. For future years, the mortgage for the RE Building will be paid in full by the end of next year – that is a $113,650 annual expense. We also anticipate a second deposit payment from Blue Fern.
There have been two reserve funds authorized by the Board, a Building Reserve and a Minister’s Reserve. Both have spreadsheets showing anticipated expenses over 10 – 20 years in order to determine a steady amount to be deposited each year to cover those expenses rather than needing to have a series of special fundraising efforts. Sadly, with the shortfall in the budget we have not been able to fund either one with the regular budget. Thanks to several very generous donors, the Building Reserve currently has $203,000, but the Minister Reserve remains unfunded. This will make it harder to realize Rev. Maria Cristina’s goal of having an intern minister.
On the good news side, we are closing in on final negotiations with Everlove to lease the RE Building during the weekdays for a nursery school. There will be some changes made to the building to accommodate their needs and meet the government’s requirements. These will be done for the most part at Everlove’s expense. We anticipate regular rental payments to begin in 2026. That will also help our cash flow.
On a final note, we have agreed upon a job description for a contracted bookkeeper and will begin the search process soon. If you know anyone who might be interested in this position, please let me know. We anticipate that it will be about 30 hours per month.
I am happy to answer any questions about our budget/finances you may have.
Geri Kennedy, Treasurer