At its November meeting, your Board approved a modified budget to guide us through the rest of this fiscal year which ends in June.

Why we needed a modified budget.

The budget approved last Spring assumed we would be able to open our building in January and secure half a year of rentals and hold our major fund-raiser — the auction. As with many of our personal plans, the virus felt no need to accommodate us. Once it was clear that we could not safely open in January, the Finance Committee (FC) and the Ministries and Operations Team (MOT) set to work to see how we could address a shortfall of about $40,000 less revenue than originally expected.

Where does one find $40,000?

After first looking at how our expenses changed as a result of having a closed building, we incorporated substantial savings from such items as utilities and maintenance into the new budget. Expenses were also trimmed to reflect programmatic changes resulting from a closed building. Specifically, the decision to forgo the hiring of a music director at this time, the reduction in Sexton and Childcare time and the resulting decrease in payroll taxes. Similarly, savings were possible in administrative expenses. A silver lining of the need for electronic services is that guest speakers and musicians no longer need travel expenses. A thorough review of these, not always obvious, savings allowed the FC & MOT to accommodate the loss of income without affecting the viability of our core programming. Yes, things are not the same during an epidemic, but we can still continue to function at a very high level. The Board approved the recommended budget and we are able to continue building the world we would all like to live in.

If you have any questions or would like a copy of the new budget, please contact Reese Satin, Treasurer at 518.380.0251.