Finance Council Meeting Minutes-March 20, 2024

Terry opened the meeting at 4:57pm.

Fr. Raj began the meeting with a prayer.

Present: Terry Brennan, Brad DeSaye, Keoni Murphy, Bob Dressler, Eileen Grant, Anne Welborn, Bill Jacobs

Staff: Fr. Raj, Jim Wren, Donna Maneely, Shelly Cooper, Jill Wagner, Jimena Lopez-Leyva

  Minutes Approval:

• Bill motioned to approve the February meeting minutes; Keoni seconded it; approved.

  Financial Statements:

• The 3- month and 6-month T-bills matured in February and were not automatically reinvested. They were reinvested within a couple of days. Both accounts show zero balances at the end of February.
• Eileen motioned to approve the February Financials; Bob seconded the motion; motion approved.

  Bank Statement Approval:

• Eileen reviewed the February bank reconciliation; no discrepancies noted.

Jimena Lopez-Leyva presentation on Hispanic Ministry:

• Eight students are attending the two-year Kino Institute program for faith formation. They will be completing their first year soon. Once completed, they will assist Jimena with some of her responsibilities.
• A new bible study will be starting on Mondays.
• Jimena is still looking for an assistant.
• Jimena and Rory are working on a bilingual program.
• Raj expressed gratitude to Jimena as she has many responsibilities.

Pastor’s Report:

• Holy Week begins next week, our busiest time of the year. There will be seventeen baptisms and forty-six confirmations at the Easter Vigil.
• Our parish mission with Fr. Paulson was well received. Fr. Loyola also offered a mission on contemplative prayer techniques.

  Parish Manager Report:

• We have received notification of a large bequest to the parish and school. We do not know when we will receive the money. If it is after July 1^st it can be used to help offset the deficit in the school budget.
• While Fr. Raj is away on his sabbatical, Fr. Ralph will be the main signer on the bank account. Either an Associate Pastor or the Chair of the Finance Council can be added as a second signer, which is highly recommended. Terry Brennan agreed to be added as a signer. Fr. Raj will request a resolution from the Diocese to add Terry as a signer on the account.
• Jim received confirmation from the Diocese that the Finance Council meetings can continue without Fr. Raj present. Terry will speak with Fr. Gaspar after the meetings to let him know about any decisions that were made and then Fr. Gaspar will accept or decline the recommendation of the council.
• We received a $10k donation to help with the 221 N. Summit renovations so the Reserve budget for next year can be reduced by $10k.
• According to the Diocese, we can remove everything from the house where Fr. Gary was living except the vehicles. Fr. Robert from the Yakima Diocese went through all of Fr. Gary’s computers and social media accounts to look for any surviving family but found none.
• Our Director of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd would like to retire soon. Jim rewrote the job description and has someone in mind for the position.
• Jim, Shelly and James from Prescott Web recently met to discuss changing over our phone system to a VOIP system. James can do it for us. There is $10k in the reserve budget for this. James believes this will be sufficient to cover the costs involved.
• One hundred people have signed up to attend our Eucharistic Conference on June 29th. We will be asking for donations on the day of the event to cover some of the costs. The Hispanic Ministry and the Knights of Columbus will be providing food which will be available for $5.
• Fr. Raj will be announcing his sabbatical this coming weekend at all the Masses. Other changes will be announced on Divine Mercy Sunday. While Fr. Raj is on his sabbatical, Fr. Tony Diaz will be filling in for the month of April and Fr. Reegan will be here in May and June. Fr. Ralph will be back for the month of July. Fr. Keller, the Claretian Provincial is visiting tomorrow. Fr. Raj will speak with him about how we are paying the visiting priests.
• CDA total to date: $77k which is 54% of goal. From now until April 30^th, CDA donations will be 100% matched.

  Old Business:  2024/2025 Budget

• Jill Wagner, Preschool Director and Shelly Cooper, Principal spoke about combining the school and preschool budget for the coming fiscal year. Doug Pritchard, from the Diocese, said there is no reason not to combine them. He recommends separating departments under the school, for example, the Preschool would only use the Valley of the Sun grant. Fundraising would be shared.
• We do not have the new benefit costs or salary recommendations from the Diocese yet, and probably will not receive the information until April.
• Bill asked if we are budgeting for just Fr. Ralph and Fr. Gaspar in the new budget. We will budget for three priests as usual.
• We increased rental income since we are planning to increase rent for the 221 N. Summit house to $1.90 a square foot. Brad advised that rental rates are decreasing so he suggested reducing it to $1.80 a square food. Donna will update the budget.

  New Business: None

Fr. Raj closed the meeting at 5:40pm with a prayer.

Respectfully submitted by Donna Maneely