St. Mary’s Finance Council Minutes
February 25, 2016
7:00 p.m. St. Mary’s Library
Opening prayer by Father Steve
In Attendance: Sue Pakiz (Chair), Connie Bushman, Jenny French, Ken Smith, Linda Susa, and Father Steve. Also in attendance—Sharon Street (Bookkeeper).
The minutes of the January meeting were approved as distributed.
The first report was the Statement of Operations. The repair fund has a $6,000 donation in it toward new doors for the front of church. (The Buildings & Ground Committee has been informed of the donation.) The committee discussed the response from Home & School Asso. (H&S) that they just want better communication. They are currently planning for a computer and Smart Board purchase. The cost to finish the security system is $667.37 which H&S will be paying. (It will come from their monthly $500 payment to the church.) We also need to remind H&S of finance protocol—parish pays the bill, then H&S reimburses the parish. Sue P. will meet with Danae S. to discuss this issue. Another fund with a large balance was Holy Name because the turkey dinner expenses still need to paid. The parish also received $3,494 from the CMMA fund at Forward Financial which was much higher than last year.
The Sacred Worship Committee would like to replace the current organ because parts are no longer available for repairs to our organ. Cost estimates ranged from $80,000 to $100,000 for a pipe organ to $30,000 to $40,000 for an organ similar to what we have now. That committee will visit other churches to see what they are using. A capital campaign drive to raise the funds will be needed. The Sacred Worship Committee will report back to the Finance Council.
The Diocesan Annual Appeal was discussed next. If we have not met our goal by June 30, the parish will have to make up the difference. The Finance Committee decided to send a letter to all parishioners and put a flyer in the bulletin. Fr. Steve will write the letter and Linda S. will create a flyer for the bulletin.
Next on the agenda was discussion of teacher contracts. New contracts are handed out in March. There is a $250 step increase each year. If contracts are not returned, there will be no step increase.
Budgets from all organizations, committees, school, and employees are due March 31 to the Finance Committee so a new budget for next year can be formulated. It was announced that the Parish Council plans to meet with the Finance Council and Home & School in the fall to make sure we are all on the same page concerning the budget.
The Budget Committee will be Linda, Connie, Sharon, and Jenny. They will meet on Thursday, March 31, at 7 p.m. with a follow-up meeting on Monday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. in the school library.
A mileage reimbursement rate of .50/mile was approved.
The new Buildings and Ground Committee held their first meeting. A project list was formed and they will be investigating costs for the projects. Top priorities are the heating system and a dishwasher for the kitchen. They will meet again on April 21 to determine additional projects for the list. They will also be following up on the flat roofs for shingling and with R&S Plumbing about the toilets.
Fr. Steve gave a report on the proposed transitional living center in Loyal. The committee met with the Loyal City Council and got the support for the project. Judy Morrow is moving forward with the plans.
Sharon gave an update on the online giving for the parish. There are 7 donors with 6 giving on a regular basis. From Aug. to Jan., a total of $2,810 was collected. This led to a discussion on the design of the regular payment envelope. We may need to change the design to accommodate those who do not give designated amounts.
There was a discussion on the need to replace members of the Finance Committee who have left the Committee. Several names were mentioned as candidates but no action was taken. We should email Fr. Steve if we think of other possibilities.
Our next regular Finance Council meeting will be held on June 23 at 6 p.m. in St. Mary’s School Cafeteria.
Announcements:
Father Steve announced that Fr. JosephArokiam from India would be joining our parish for 3 to 6 months as Fr. Steve mentors him in what it takes to become a parish priest in the US. He will reside in the rectory at Loyal.
The Diocesan Finance Workshop will be June 9 in Black River Falls. Sharon will let us know when she gets the form for signing up.
The next joint Finance Council meeting will be May 26 at 7 p.m. in St. Mary’s Cafeteria.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:35p.m. after a closing prayer from Fr. Steve.
Submitted by Connie Bushman
St. Mary’s Finance Council Secretary