St. John’s Episcopal Church
Treasurer’s Report for The Chronicle
August 24, 2020

Finance Committee

Due to scheduling conflicts, the regular monthly meeting of the Finance Committee was cancelled.

Our Current Financial Condition

All our accounts at Columbia Bank have been closed and the balances transferred to corresponding accounts at Commencement Bank. Our bank balances as of August 18, 2020 are:

• PPP Loan = $0.00
• Operations = $21,569.41
• Designated = $6,200.43
• Memorial = $7,718.92
• Capital Campaign = $13,783.60
• EIDL = $149,900.00

Our Budget Report for July 2020 can be reviewed by following this link. As of July 31, our year-to-date operating deficit was -$81,994.13, a negative variance to budget of -$64,796.30. The negative variance in July is attributable primarily to:

• Pledge Payments = $4,165.12 below budget for the month and $17,646.40 (11.4%) below budget year-to-date (Note: Giving traditionally falls off in the summer months but picks back up in the fall and at year-end.)
• Diocesan Assessment = $7,034.30 above budget as we caught up from prior months and became current year-to-date
• Continuing Education (payment to Diana Bender, R.C.’s coach) = $1,933.33 over budget for the month as we caught up from prior months and became current year-to-date
• Computer & Internet Expenses = $12,652.01 above budget for the month and $20,573.24 above budget year-to-date (The year-to-date deficit will be reduced by $3,800.00 upon receipt of a Congregational Development Grant for the new Zoom Room)
• Professional Fees (payments to Cynthia Knapp, our Bookkeeper) = $2,100.00 over budget for the month and $15,900.00 over budget year-to-date (an oversight on our part when building the budget for 2020)

At current levels of giving and personnel costs, we are barely generating sufficient revenue to meet payroll and have little left to apply to other expenses. We have two additional sources of funds: The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loan proceeds and our (endowment) account at with the Diocese of Olympia Master Trust.  

One of the conditions for Diocesan approval of our acceptance of the EIDL loan is we would not spend any of the proceeds until completion of an independent audit, currently planned for some time in January 2021. The EIDL money is currently being held in a segregated account at Commencement Bank pending our investment of some or all the funds until such time as they may be needed to apply to certain operating expenses.

Several months ago, the Vestry adopted a strategy of withdrawing funds from our General (Unrestricted) Account with the Diocese of Olympia Master Trust to pay for costs relating to work to replace our sanctuary roof, undertake related structural repairs, and prepare for our upcoming capital campaign. We have, so far, withdrawn a total of $180,000.00 and applied the funds to architects’, contractors’, and consultants’ fees and expenses. From the onset of this work in 2017 thru August 18, 2020, these fees and expenses total $259,770.37.  As of June 30, 2020, the balance in our General DIF Account was $263,982.53.

The Vestry approved the withdrawal of $70,000.00 from our General DIF Account, with $50,000.00 to be  used to reimburse our Operating Account for capital expenses previously paid from the Operating and Designated Fund Accounts, and the remaining $20,000.00 combined with the current balance ($13,783.60) in the Capital Campaign Account to be applied to anticipated expenses relating to architects’ fees, enhanced building security, and sprinklers.  As with earlier withdrawals, we intend to reimburse the General Account with interest from funds raised in our capital campaign.

Respectfully submitted…

…Bob Le Roy, Treasurer