Meeting — September 12, 2017

Diocese of Rhode Island

Commission on Finance

Meeting, September 12, 2017 St. Luke’s Church, East Greenwich

Present: Robert Batchelor; Sarosh Fenn; The Rev. Erik Larsen; Michael Lofaro; Stephan Sloan; The Rev. Peter Tierney.
Also Present: Dennis Burton; Joan DeCelles; The Rev. Canon Linda Grenz; The Rev. Edwin Hallenbeck.
Guests: The Rev, John Higginbotham, Rector; Sam Hester, Senior Warden, Holy Trinity, Tiverton.
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Chair Lofaro. An opening prayer was offered by Canon Grenz.

The Minutes of the meeting of May 9, 2017 were approved as distributed. Note: there was no meeting held June 13, 2017 due to a severe storm.
Finance Report for August. The full report was distributed. Several matters were noted. The DIT data is now being updated to market value on a quarterly basis, keeping it current. A separate Variance Analysis report is prepared stating items that are significantly off budget with a brief explanation. At this point Income is over budget by $68,526. Operating expenses are $203,816 under budget. It is expected this will move closer to budget by year end. Cash flow in bank remains high.
Apportionment Aging Report. A number of churches are one or two months behind similar to previous years, One is six months behind due to personnel issues, now catching up. Three churches are significant problems. St George’s, Central Falls has made no payments. Sts. Peter & Andrew, Providence has major issues is now three months behind. Grace Church, Providence continues to pay at its own formula and is projected to underpay by $39,021.
Grace Church, Providence. Mr. Burton reported on recent conversations. The new building is near completion and ready to open for use. It is now necessary to implement planning and activities for its use and income producing capabilities. It is expected this will require a three year cycle of activity. Discussions are under way about how to accomplish this and the financing needed. It was suggested the COF discuss this further at its next meeting.
CFO Report. Mr. Burton reported. •Church of the Advent, Coventry developed an oil tank leak in July requiring immediate cleanup of a significant spill of over 400 gallons. Cost of remediation was $56,000 to which must be added $3,600 for replacement tank. •The Mobile Station land at 389 Elmwood Ave, Providence has two potential buyers. A team of appraiser, broker and surveyor is working with the Chancellor to negotiate sale, noting the area has environmental sensitivity. •Solar Farm at ECC concept is under intense study to determine detail requirements and approvals needed. •Several items needing future attention have been identified for later discussion.

Commission on Finance — Minutes, September 12, 2017 Page 2 of 2

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Tiverton, request for Revolving Loan. Rev Higginbotham and Mr. Hester joined the meeting. An application for a $50,000 loan over eight years was received. It was stated that loans may not exceed five years. There followed a lengthy discussion regarding: budget implications for the church; should endowment funds be placed in the DIT to secure a lower interest rate; what are current investment return rates? Should the church consider rearranging the project to a smaller loan amount to keep monthly payments at a level it considers prudent. It was noted that the capital campaign undertaken this year has already paid for some improvements. The questions discussed need further study. The guests left the meeting.
Further discussion by the COF clarified questions to be answered. It was agreed to defer action pending answers and possibly a revised application.
Program and Budget Major Changes. Fr. Tierney distributed a sheet of major budget changes anticipated at this time. The biggest change is reducing apportionment from 16.5% to 15.5% which will drop Diocesan income by about $108,000. This will need to be made up mostly by reducing expenditures. Several possible changes were noted, none final. More definitive data will be available in October. Further study is needed about specific needs and costs for capital items.
The meeting was adjourned a 6:57 p.m. Respectfully submitted
Edwin F Hallenbeck
Secretary
Next meeting: October 10, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.