Of fiscal year ends and finance matters:
Our parish Finance Committee met Monday to review the year end numbers. They turned out about how we expected them to for this year – in the red. The bulk of the deficit came from the Capital expenditures section. The new boiler was the largest expense, and while 1/4 of our fundraising for that hit the books in Fiscal Year ‘12, the bulk of the expenses were realized in Fiscal year ‘13. In addition, the second round of expenses for the Bathroom renovations also showed up this past fiscal year. Add to that the renovation of the Computer lab, (replacing the 6 year old computers that had been limping along) new windows in the school stairwells, some storm damage repairs (some covered by insurance and others not), and it added up to $165K in capital expenditures less revenues for a net loss of $125K.
I am awaiting the official Archdiocesan closing of our Fiscal Year books before publishing the yearly fiscal report. But I am extremely grateful for your generosity and support of our outreach – all the ways that we strive to be ‘the Rock of Normandy’ because of your faithful stewardship.
Going forward, a few things are becoming clearer. The school continues to be our largest ministry and greatest source of financial strain. That is pretty typical diocesan wide. Yet, so much good occurs from this apostolate parish and community wide that it continues to be worth the time, talent and treasure we put into it.
It seems that the ‘major’ capital expenditures are done, at least for the foreseeable future. Now, I think, we’ll settle into the ‘maintenance’ capital expenditures that are a part of an aging plant.
Whether it is due to an aging parish population, deaths of some of our steady donors, or just the stress of a sluggish economy on people’s pocket-books, offertory revenue has been pretty flat the last three years, certainly not keeping pace with inflation. That has been offset in part by some of those ‘special appeals’ – the Pay it Forward, the Visitation Drive and the Sponsor’s Dinner Dance. But, for the longer term stability of the parish and our ministries, we need to look at the Lord’s invitation to a stewardship that will help each of us to be a part of the mission of St. Ann parish. Stay tuned this coming fall for a renewed stewardship appeal.
In the meantime, enjoy these amazingly cool days of summer for as long as God continues to send them our way…