Excess Budget funds stake sweep

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jdlessley
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by jdlessley »

BRIBRETRAKIM wrote: Fri Oct 20, 2023 1:16 pm So if our 2023 year-end balance is $15,000, our carryover to 2024 will be $7,500, and in addition, our 2024 quarterly allocations will be reduced by 50% as well. Am I reading this right?
Thank you.
Howard
Based on the information provided from the GSD the sweep was for any funds in excess of 50% of the total annual budget that remains at the end of the year.
It is not 50% of what remains in the budget at the end of the year.
There was no mention of anything affecting the next year's quarterly allocations.
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BrianEdwards
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by BrianEdwards »

Many will be aware, but yesterday the Church sent a communication, and there's a corresponding notice posted on the main dashboard page of LCRF. I'll hit some of the highlights, for anyone wanting more details, I think the communication actually does a pretty good job of giving details and explanation. Actually, compared with past experiences, I think this communication is 1000% better than most of what they've done previously! (which includes the Church doing things and not telling local leaders about it...)

1) LUBA is increased. Interesting, but not pertinent to this thread.

2) One authorized fundraising event per year. There's additional guidance that funds should be used in the year they are received. I suppose you could raise funds in 2023, make a deposit in Dec 2023 for a Youth event in 2024, and have that be a workaround to trying to carryover those funds. But the principle in the communication is definitely that expenses should not be excessive. And if carryover is an issue, or if youth families are asked to contribute an excessive amount to participate in an event, a reevaluation may be in order.

3) Budget sweeps will occur Dec 31st, 2023, for all stakes, but not for any wards. If a stake adjustment is required, after the adjustment is made the stake’s budget balance will be 50 percent of the total annual budget allocation given to the stake in 2023. Stake presidents are encouraged to work with bishops to review and maintain reasonable budget balances in the wards. So while there's room for interpretation about what's "reasonable" at a ward level, at least for now there's no indication that at the end of next year (Dec 31 2024), wards will be swept at any level. I would hope that given the stake experience and pushback, that when/if the Church does decide to also cap the ward budget carryover, they would give a year's heads-up so that any ward carrying a lot of excess budget, would at least be able to talk with the Stake President about what they should do to be ready for the eventual sweep.
eblood66
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by eblood66 »

BrianEdwards wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2023 9:04 am Many will be aware, but yesterday the Church sent a communication, and there's a corresponding notice posted on the main dashboard page of LCRF.
How was the communication sent out? I see the LCRF notice but I don't see anything in the Official Communication Library and I haven't received an email. I'm a Stake Finance Clerk so I would hope that I'd be included on the distribution list if it were an email.
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ckmcdonald
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by ckmcdonald »

Apparently stake finance clerks were not copied on the communication (Official Communication Library), our finance clerk wasn’t copied either. Excellent communication compared to last year!
BrianEdwards
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by BrianEdwards »

The letter states that the recipients are "the following leaders in the United States: Stake, Mission,and District Presidencies; Bishoprics and Branch Presidencies; Stake and Ward Clerks; Stake Auditors". In "Official Communications", I see the letter listed under the "Notices" category. I guess the "Stake Clerk" group doesn't include Stake Financial Clerks, probably the same at the Ward level.
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johnshaw
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by johnshaw »

Will someone detail the changes to the local budget funding? I have a Bishopric who doesn't record any attendance of the youth even after seeing what is submitted in the quarterly report, I can't get them to understand just how much $$ we're losing from not tracking attendance of our Young Men.
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
jdlessley
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by jdlessley »

johnshaw wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2023 8:20 pm Will someone detail the changes to the local budget funding?
There were no specific details in the notice. This was the information provided: "Local Unit Budget Allowance (LUBA). Effective January 2024, the base quarterly LUBA rates will increase."

So this leaves more questions unanswered. Is this change applied to the 3rd quarter 2023 attendance used to calculate the 1st quarter 2024 LUBA? Or, is this change applied to the 1st quarter 2024 attendance used to calculate the 3rd quarter 2024 LUBA? I am leaning toward the former 1st Q 2023 attendance.

For planning purposes most of us who estimate the quarterly LUBA will be at a loss until either the exact rates are provided or we get the Q1 2024 unit LUBA notice where the rates are shown.
JD Lessley
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eblood66
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by eblood66 »

jdlessley wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2023 8:54 pm
johnshaw wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2023 8:20 pm Will someone detail the changes to the local budget funding?
There were no specific details in the notice. This was the information provided: "Local Unit Budget Allowance (LUBA). Effective January 2024, the base quarterly LUBA rates will increase."
I just got a copy of the letter from my stake clerk. The letter does provide the specific amounts but I'm not sure whether they should be posted in public.
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by lajackson »

johnshaw wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2023 8:20 pm I can't get them to understand just how much $$ we're losing from not tracking attendance of our Young Men.
Unless it has changed (and it very well may have) I thought the budget allowance was based on how many Youth records you have, not how many are actually attending.
jdlessley
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Re: Excess Budget funds stake sweep

Post by jdlessley »

That's interesting, because I got a letter notice, but it did not include the rates. I'll have to ask my stake clerk to see what he got.
JD Lessley
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