At its November 11 meeting, the UNMC Board of Trustees heard a financial report detailing the church’s $39,000 deficit for the first half of the current fiscal year and an update on the next steps to be taken toward the restoration of the McKim organ. The Board also elected Perry King to fill the board seat being vacated by Vicki Pepper and approved the charter and membership of the Nominating Committee.
Assistant Treasurer Clint McCully reported that the deficit for the first half of the church’s fiscal year is nearly $39,000, well above the expected deficit of about $21,000. He attributed the shortfall largely to these factors:
A shortfall in pledge income of about $4,500, compared to the budgeted amount; Housing allowance payments for Rev. Morn that have not been offset by the expected rental income from the parsonage; Payments into the pension fund for former minister Scott Wells; About $3,000 in fix-up expenses for the parsonage, to make it rentable; Higher insurance costs for the church building and parsonage, which will come down about $4,000 per year in the future, thanks to the effort by Brian Pepper to locate an alternative carrier; Increased custodial expenses directly related to weddings; One-time charges to establish a DSL connection for the church and extend it to the minister’s office.
Clint reported that the church used its brokerage margin account to meet immediate cash flow needs, especially for a large insurance payment, and has since sold about $30,000 in securities to pay off the margin loan. The net effect on the endowment is negligible because of appreciation in the church’s holdings during the same time period. Clint agreed to break out custodial expenses for weddings and other rental events separately on future reports so that they can be compared with income from those events.
The board discussed the McKim Organ restoration proposal submitted by organ builder David Storey, along with an update from organist Kirk Denton concerning next steps to be taken and the interest shown by another church in purchasing our Gottfried organ. The total amount of the restoration contract is $320,000 with the first $10,000 due by January 1, 2005 (or upon contract signing, but no later than January 31, 2005) and an additional $110,000 due by April 1, 2005. As the next steps, Greg Wigle said he would recruit an organ fundraising committee chair and submit the committee charter to the board for approval at its December meeting. The committee’s first task will be to try to answer the key question that Kirk posed, “Are we in a position and/or do we have the desire to go forward with this project?”
The board elected Perry King to fill the board seat that Vicki Pepper is vacating, due to her resignation, at the close of the semi-annual meeting November 14. He will serve in that capacity until the next annual meeting.
The board elected Richard Hurst as vice moderator, to take effect at the close of the semi-annual meeting November 14.
The board approved a charter for the Nominating Committee and appointed Lynn Cook and Richard Hurst as the other members of the Committee, joining chair Sue Mosher.
In attendance were Moderator Greg Wigle, Vice Moderator Vicki Pepper, Assistant Treasurer Clint McCully, and board members Kathryn Desmond and Sue Mosher, along with Rev. Morn.