We have been providing selected insights into our parish finances in recent Bulletins. Today we wanted to provide you with a perspective on our seasonality and a summary of our overall results for the first half of our fiscal year.
Our parish operates in a seasonal environment. Generally, in line with our budget, we have a deficit each month in May thru November, experience roughly a break even in January thru March and have a surplus in December (Christmas) and April (Easter) that offsets our deficits. In 2019 we had deficits in January thru March that were driven by high food service costs (contract terminated, modifying approach) and high program costs not recovered by program fees (programs now must largely recover costs).
We tighten our belts in the deficit months but the built-in cost of our facilities and basic infrastructure cause a deficit. When we experience our seasonal attendance and participation increase in December thru April, we increase programming and outreach which increases costs that are covered by increased collections.
Through the first 6 months of the year, we had deficits in July through November, partially offset by a surplus in December. We closed December with a 6-month deficit of $127,877. Both Income and Expenses have been tracking close to budget throughout this period.
Finish the Church
The Hurricane Irma damage has been explained with pictures and in the context of our Capital Campaign to build the Pulte Center and reinvigorate our campus. Another aspect of the story is that we used all of the available resources we had (Campaign funds and savings) to take advantage of the Church repair opportunity by pulling ahead capital improvement plans. This strained our budget over this past summer.
Our efforts to pay down our debt and “Finish The Church” have made great progress and we are almost halfway toward our goal of paying off our debt. At this writing, with your contributions, have reduced the debt to $1.007 million. Your generosity has been overwhelming and a shining example of the spirit of the Parish. We are making progress and need everyone’s help to eliminate the debt!