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Finance

Strategy and Budget

The Administration and Finance Policy Group had reviewed the draft budget and passed it for adoption by the Council of Assembly. The Council considered the budget during a telephone conference call on Tuesday 7 May. The Council sought more information on certain aspects of the budget. That information will be provided to Council and considered at telephone conference on Friday 10 May. Assuming the Council approves the budget on Friday we will be in a position to distribute details of the national services levy and mission and ministry target late next week. I trust the delay hasn't caused too many problems with the budget process in parishes and presbyteries.

At the Assembly Office we will only set mission and ministry targets by presbytery. The allocation of those targets to individual congregations is the responsibility of presbytery. The method of allocation can vary between presbyteries but does tend to recognise the special characteristics of the congregations within a presbytery.

As part of the budget process FSD will be calculating for recommendation to the appropriate policy groups adjustments to such things as the basic stipend, annuity payments and Beneficiary Fund contributions. Any adjustments will be advised to parishes once they have been agreed and will apply from 1 July.

For all those involved in preparing information for the budget thank you very much for your assistance. We have taken a different tack this year and you have coped very well with the change. A lot of thought on effort has gone into the process and I have no doubt the Church will be the better for it.

Amalgamated Investment Fund

The interest rate paid on deposits with the Amalgamated Investment Fund remains at 6.5% per annum. In light of movements in market interest rates and Fund earnings, the Trustees will reconsider the rate during May.

Ministers Mortgages

Increasing mortgage interest rates have lead to a further increase in the rate of interest applicable to ministers' mortgages. From 1 May the interest rate charged on these loans will be 7.0% per annum.

Forms and Employment Contracts

Just a reminder that many of the forms we use can be taken from the Church's website. The Treasurer's Manual is also displayed on the site. These forms include a standard form employment contract to be used for lay employees. It is a requirement of the Employment Relations Act that all new employees have a written contract. We recommend no changes be made to the contract form as even small changes can have an effect that was not intended by the parties.

Where we are asked to add new employees to payrolls paid from the Assembly Office we will be seeking verification that the new employee has a written contract. Until such time as we are satisfied of the existence of a written contract no wage or salary payments will be made.

Insurance Renewal

All parishes will have now received information with respect to the insurance renewal due on 31 July. At this time there are two important actions required. The first is to review the schedules received to ensure they are accurate and complete and the second is to ensure that your property valuations are up to date. The letter you will have received contains information on how to complete these tasks.

If you have not received information on your insurance renewal then you should contact Margaret Fawcett in the Assembly Office on (04) 381-8291 or via email on margaretf@pcanz.org.nz and she will ensure that you receive the information you need to complete your renewal. You should also contact Margaret if you have a query in relation to your renewal. If Margaret is unavailable I can also assist.

Statistic Forms

Parishes will be receiving statistics forms later in the month. These forms need to be completed during the month of June and returned promptly during July. We ask that the information in the forms be as accurate and complete as is possible. The better our information the better the decisions we make.

Property Transactions

Hopefully its third time lucky with this particular matter. What I should have said last month is that although the Otago Foundation Trust Board holds the title to property south of the Waitaki river the Board only acts upon recommendations received from the Synod of Otago and Southland. Therefore property transactions will also need the approval of the Synod. Your timetables for property transactions will need to make allowance for this step in the approval process. My thanks to Heather McKenzie at the Synod for providing this helpful information.

Interest Payments

An apology to all those parishes that have the interest earned on their Amalgamated Investment Fund deposits credit directly to their bank account each quarter. Due to an oversight we omitted to process the direct credit schedule when it was prepared. We did discover the oversight and the interest has now been credited to your accounts. The calculation of the interest amount was not affected only the timing of the payment. This error did not affect parishes that do not draw on their interest earnings except by specific notification to the Assembly Office.

Geoffrey Bell

Manager, Financial Services