GA06130

Mission Coordination and Budgets

Administrative fee retained, women of color supported with task force

by Shane Whisler

BIRMINGHAM, June 21 — The Assembly agreed with the Mission Coordination and Budgets committee that congregations and other donors understand that certain administrative costs are appropriate in managing funds such as donations to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, One Great Hour of Sharing and Extra Commitment Opportunities.

Commissioners allowed the fee, up to 5 percent collected on receipts, with two important points regarding communication and future budgets.

In approving the committee's recommendation, with nearly 90 percent of the vote, they instructed the General Assembly Council (GAC) to assist congregations in communicating to their membership the reality of changed patterns in unrestricted giving and the resulting cost implications of administering restricted funds.

The second point says that commissioners "implore the GAC and the Mission Funding Task Force earnestly to seek alternative ways of budgeting in order to deal with this changing reality."

During discussion, Joey Bailey, the chief financial officer of the denomination, said if the administrative fee — which represented a total of more than $800,000 in 2005 — was eliminated by this Assembly, the equivalent of 16 more positions at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville also would have to be eliminated. He explained that the fee was calculated from a rolling average. For example, even though more than $38 million was given to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for hurricane relief, less than $200,000 was charged for administrative fees, he said.

He clarified for one commissioner that the fees collected help offset the adminstrative costs for the whole work of the church, which is about 10 percent of the entire unrestricted budget.

One of the few items approved with significant budget implications was the resolution to establish a task force to respond to issues raised by the Women of Color Consultation held in 2004. Despite the cost, $74,000 over three years, the committee felt the consultations work was well done and offered specific actions.

Committee moderator, elder David Morton, said that a number of human resource issues referred to the committee had merit, but were either addressed by other policies or were being considered by the GAC or the Mission Work Plan Task Force due to the restructuring of how the denomination accomplishes its mission priorities.

In other business, the Assembly expanded the Peacemaking Offering causes to include the fight against HIV/AIDS. They encourage congregations to use 25 percent of their portion of the Peacemaking Offering toward that cause. Presbyteries and synods are also encourged to use their portion to fight HIV/AIDS nationally and globally.