Fiscal Year 2014 (July1. 2013-June 31, 2014) showed St. Ann Parish with an operating deficit of $20,333. (For the members of the 21 Club, with the Archdiocesan year-end audit, we reclassified some expenses/receivables into the current fiscal year, thus the slight discrepancy from the original $21,007) That deficit was after capital expenditures and bad debts were added in. In terms of ‘normal’ operating budget items, we showed a slim ‘profit’ of $25,418, compared to a ‘profit’ of $85,189 in FY 2013. Cash in our checking account and money market fund total $76,585, down from $121,789 last year. But, as I mentioned in my homily on Stewardship Sunday, that operating deficit is a direct result of the founding grant by Ann Lucas Hunt which set the mission of this parish: “To see to the needs of the congregation and the education of the children.” Here is the breakdown.
Expenses – Capital and Non-Cash
Capital Expenditures (cost element 61) totaled $34,599, significantly down from the year that saw the replacement of the boiler and redoing of the school computer lab. The breakdown of major costs is as follows:
- Parish Building expenses of $8,400 covered repair of the gym floor from some water damage, the second half of the window replacements in the school hallways, and the internet rewiring project of this summer.
- Equipment expenditures for the parish/school were $26,078, which included 2 replacement a/c units; an additional boiler water treatment tank; the hearing assist units for the church sound system; some replacement computers for teachers, plus $16,587 for a Mac-Mini and 30 i-Pads for school whose costs were split between the parish and a Boeing grant.
Non Cash expense (65) was $11,158, attributable to bad debt and uncollectable tuition.
Expenses – other than Capital or non-cash Capital
- Personnel Costs (51) rose at a 4.7 % level, reflecting an Archdiocesan mandated 3% raise for faculty, with the resulting increases in Federal taxes, Health Insurance premiums and the like.
- Supplies (52) showed a overall decrease of $8,649. Major variances include: The costs to replace the English Series as compared to last year’s Math Series ($3,500) and Parish Organizations’ expenses – aka: Men’s club, SAPO, Ladies Guild, etc., ($4,314) were offset by savings in janitorial supplies, (-$1,503) one time software Operating Systems for the computer lab purchased in FY13, (-$5,752) a reclassification of Teachers wish list monies to the areas where we spent them -transportation, instructional items, supplies, etc.) (-$10,316)
- Fees and Services (53) showed a decrease of $5,327, as a result of some savings by our School Marketing committee as well as reclassifying the Shipping and Handling fees for our textbooks into the just mentioned “Supplies” category.
- Occupancy (54) saw a decrease of -$7,151 overall as compared to the previous year. Higher heating costs and Snow removal costs (Remember the Polar Vortex?) were offset by having less Repairs and Maintenance needed, (Remember the hail storm the night of the 2012 Dinner Dance?). The purchase of a copier last Fiscal Year resulted in $3,103 of savings in the Equipment Rental category.
- Transfers to Other Parishes/Diocese (55) jumped as expected. The bulk of this ($11,430) was due to the Alive in Christ Initiative, as this ‘tax’ hit its “2% of external revenues” ceiling, and an increase ($2,000 ) to the Priests Retirement Fund expenses.
Revenue
- Unrestricted Revenues (41) of $364,236 were flat this year, showing a minimal $554 increase from last year’s giving. This includes our Sunday Envelopes, Holy Day and loose changes, as well as memorial and other unrestricted gifts. (Offertory gifts for normal Sunday collections were up, but were offset by a decline in unrestricted gifts – funeral memorials, and gifts given in honor of individuals, etc.)
- Restricted Offerings and Gifts (43) were down (-$11,034) as compared to the previous year’s specialized appeals for the boiler fund in both our Visitation Appeal and the Pay It Forward appeal. (Visitation netted $35,906. The bulk of the Pay It Forward appeal came in the previous fiscal year, with the remainder trickling in this year at $2,385.)
- Program fees (44) compromise tuition, book fees, registration as well as the Archdiocesan Alive in Christ Scholarship money to St. Ann School families. There is good news and bad news in this category. The good news is that the Alive in Christ program supplied 36 school families with $59,300 of scholarship money to help them afford the Catholic education we provide. The bad news you know: nearly 20 families initially took advantage of the School Transfer Law, so that our enrollment based revenues were down by -$43,276. This was partially offset by the sale of some cemetery plots, ($5,200) for a net decline in program fees of -$37,987.
- Investment Income (45) – It was another good year for the markets, showing a net increase of $7,688. We were able to realize $21,667 from the endowment from last fiscal year, and we will receive $5,664 this coming July 1. Endowment earnings are held, as of Dec. 31, in a protected fund for budgeting purposes, until they are deposited into our account on July 1 of 2015.
- Grant Revenue (46) was up by $19,500 from last year. We were the recipients, once again, of a generous gift from the Catherine Manley Gaylord Foundation to St. Ann School of $5,000. And, as mentioned above, Archdiocesan Grants to St. Ann parish through the Alive in Christ initiative; Tuition assistance to Teachers in Catholic Schools and CFTA, (offset by no insurance settlements this year), rose by nearly $28,000. We continue to pursue grants for our School and Pre-school to help pay for improvement projects in the future.
- Other Revenues (47) shows decrease of -$5,091. It was a good year for the fiscal health of the various organizations that comprise St. Ann parish – Men’s Club, Ladies Guild, SAPO, and the like, showing an increase of $14,230. These revenues were offset by a decline fund raising revenues from the previous year to the tune of $16,134 (School plays, fish fry’s Dinner Dance, Recycling, etc)
Thus, total revenues show a decrease of $26,370 over last year’s totals. So, when you add it all together, we are left with a net income of – $20,333.
In summary, we nearly absorbed the decreased enrollment numbers due to the School Transfer Ruling.
People’s amazing generosity in response to my Stewardship appeal in October has stabilized our financial bleeding. In the short term, our cash reserves are not where I would like them to be. And the school enrollment trend, which most Catholic Schools are fighting, is still problematic. Yet, I am confident that we will continue to be able to fulfill the mission given to us by both our Savior and Anne Lucas Hunt, to “see to the needs of the community and the education of the children.” We will be conducting the Pay It Forward appeal this spring and the Visitation Appeal in the fall, as usual. And we will be doing some long range planning in the near future to look at building improvements and ongoing maintenance. In the mean time, for the 158th year and counting, we will continue to be a community “living Faith since 1856”.
— Fr. Bill