Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, Unitarian-Universalist

Minutes of the Congregational Meeting - January 12, 2003

I. Opening Devotion Rev. David Takahashi Morris

II. Opening the meeting Max Salinas, President of the congregation, called the meeting to order at 11:25 AM.

A. Determining a quorum By show of hands, a quorum was determined to be present.

B. Review of agenda The agenda was approved.

C. Approval of Jan. 13, 2002 minutes Approved. A member requested that the minutes of previous meetings be available in the church office one week before the congregational meeting date, to allow time for reading them; the Board Secretary will ensure that they are available as requested.

D. Approval of Feb. 24, 2002 minutes Approved.

E. Approval of Apr. 28, 2002 minutes Approved.

III. Reports

A. Minister This report was deferred until April, as is customary.

B. U-House Treasurer See handout, “U-House Revenue and Expenses.” Marty Bass, U-House Treasurer. Discussion regarding return on our investment. Long Range Planning Committee and a building use task force are examining such issues in relation to all the TJMC properties, to include maintenance, repairs, building use and income. Long Range Planning will host a forum on these subjects January 25. Moved: that the proposed U-House budget be approved. Seconded, approved.

C. Endowment See handout, “TJMC Endowment Funds Report.” Bob Gross, Chair, Endowment Committee. $6,666 from the general endowment fund was spent at the direction of the Board, for repayment of member bonds. A member questioned the advisability of investing in our own church bonds; these earn 5.75% interest. The Music Committee used money from the Bruce Abrahamse Fund to purchase a piano dolly, and money from the Henry Cheetham Fund was used for Religious Education teacher training. The Endowment Committee was thanked for its efforts.

D. Treasurer See handouts, “TJMC Balance Sheet, Dec. 31, 2002,” memo “Re: 2002 Income and Expenses.” Trudy Rohm, Controller, presented the report in the absence of the Treasurer, Owen Young. In response to a question, she noted that $38,800 has been spent on the front of the church; this leaves $6000 of the funds raised for this project, to be used for replanting, benches, additional landscaping. Moved: that the report be accepted. Seconded, approved.

IV. New Business

A. Approve budget See handout of proposed budget, cover letter. The Finance Committee and Board of Trustees was recognized for their efforts. Stephanie Lowenhaupt, Chair, Finance Committee. Updated figures: pledges for 2003 still lag behind the projected $300,000 by $27,000 (compare to 2002 projected pledges of $316,000); prior year pledges received in 2003 will be approximately $24,000, not the $6000 in the budget. Proposed budget includes a decrease in building user income, no increases in personnel compensation or programs, reduced debt repayment, and a reduced budget for Building and Grounds. A question and answer period followed. Clarification of Music Director’s professional expenses/insurance allocations: At the time that her contract was negotiated, she did not need health insurance; part, but not all, of the unused insurance allocation was added to her professional expenses. Q.: What would it cost us to give all staff a 2% cost-of-living raise (COLA)? A.: almost $3000. Many members rose to express their dismay at the lack of salary increases for our staff. Liz Benziger and Al Shapero increased their pledges on the spot, in order to increase salaries; a notebook was passed so that attendees could raise their pledges if desired. Noted: Finance had originally proposed an unbalanced budget of $315,000, with a $15,000 deficit. It included a 4% salary increase for the minister, 4% for the DRE, 2% for the Music Director, 4% for the Administrative Coordinator; programs were funded at close to requested levels, B&G received an increase, and debt reduction was funded at

50% ($15,000). The Board reluctantly rejected this budget, as pledges at that time fell short of even the $300,000 needed for a balanced budget. Much discussion ensued, with many suggestions made, including:

- pass an unbalanced budget, raise salaries by 4%.

- give 2% COLA now, figure out how to pay for it later.

- if additional funds exist after the 2% COLA, they should be used for debt reduction.

- many in Charlottesville don’t get COLA, but salary equity is a matter of fairness; fund DRE and administrative coordinator raises first, then others if possible.

- accept proposed budget, then ask Finance to recommend priorities for additional funds.

- accept proposed budget, then ask Personnel Committee to allocate additional funds as they deem appropriate.

- approve budget, then if $15,000 becomes available, automatically adopt Finance’s first proposal to the Board ($315,000 unbalanced budget).

Moved: that the proposed budget be approved; seconded, passed by voice vote with a few nays. Noted: the Board has no authority to distribute to programs any unbudgeted income received throughout the year; it goes into the following year’s operating funds.

A suggestion was made to approve the Nominating Committee’s appointments, then return to the budget.

B. Approve Nominating Committee’s appointments Owen Young, Treasurer. Josie Pipkin, Board member at-large. Sally Taylor, Nominating Committee. Chris Lilley, Personnel Committee. All were approved.

A. Budget, continued Moved: that if an additional $15,000 is raised in pledges, the Finance Committee’s unbalanced budget of $315,000 is to be adopted. Seconded. Amendment proposed: if funds are available, Personnel Committee’s salary recommendations will be funded, after funding Finance’s unbalanced budget. Seconded.

Further discussion:

- fund 2.5% COLA priority, and then an additional 1.5% if possible; unfortunately, economic conditions require us to defer equity raises.

- we should adopt the entire unbalanced budget, not just salary increases; programs deserve consideration of their requests.

- I’m uncomfortable voting on the unbalanced budget, sight-unseen.

Clarification of the intent of an earlier amendment proposal: if funds are available, we should first fund Finance’s unbalanced budget (additional $15,000), then implement Personnel’s recommendations if possible; seconded. A vote was taken on the original amendment; failed. Additional comments: There will be no additional debt reduction made with the unbalanced budget. Worship Council has grown a lot, routinely goes over budget, would like to see realistic funding. Worship Associates has insufficient funds for guest speakers, who are in the pulpit 12 Sundays each year. The question was called on the second amendment: funding the $315,000 budget first, followed by funding Personnel’s recommended staff salary increases if funds become available. Voice vote indicated that the nays had it; a count was requested: 11 yes, more than 22 no. Q.: If we approve the unbalanced budget plus Personnel’s recommendations, what would be the shortfall given our current pledge levels? A.: approximately $45,000. A member moved to call the question; seconded, passed. Moved: if $15,000 in additional funds is obtained, the unbalanced budget proposed by the Finance Committee will be adopted. Seconded. The deficit budget was approved. (It is assumed but not stated, that there will be proportional distribution of funds if less than $15,000 is available).

V. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 1:23 PM, and those present gave a vote of appreciation to Max Salinas for chairing.

Respectfully submitted by Bonnie Hansen, Board Secretary