A word from our president.... Jay P

Thank you to all who participated in the four budget forums held between the end of the pledge drive and prior to the congregation meeting to vote on the proposed 2009 budget. Thank you also to all who participated in the budget meeting.

I do want to address Murray Zeldman's question about the boards follow-up and communication of issues raised at the four forums held to hear comments and responses to the board's draft budget. I need to take full responsibility for not addressing at the congregational meeting, the issues that were brought up and the board's discussion and responses to each point. I had intended to. I even said at the board meeting on the 8th that I would. Believe me, it was oversight. I actually spent all my preperation time on trying to properly address the Minister/Search Cmte issue, which we found was really the major thing that was on everyone's mind. Below, I'm pasting a copy of the draft minutes from the board meeting pertaining to the budget forums. Please keep in mind that the brevity of the responses to the (equally brief) concerns does not indicate the time spent on each issue. If you have any further concerns, or feel that issues were left out or not addressed, please let me or any other board member know.

Thanks,
Jay

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excert from the draft minutes of the December 8th UUCSH Board of Trustees meeting regarding responses to issues raised at four public budget forums held prior to the congregational meeting to approve the 2009 budget.

Budget: The board discussed the issues raised during the budget forums, as follows:
Discount on pledge income: Because pledges now exceed the budget, a discount exists.
Sunnyhill-to-go: Overly ambitious? Since the fund raiser has raised more this year than has been projected for next year, it was felt that the projection was reasonable.

Maintenance and Supply: What is included in this item: Charlie will make a separate list of what was included in 2008, with the understanding that it is a flexible fund.
Cleaning services: Cover-All. Elizabeth has not gotten any complaints about the service; if anyone does have complaints, they should be brought to her.

Fees-for-Services: Some board members felt this would be useful to learn more about in the coming year for consideration at a later date.

Costs of copying: It was decided to monitor this item which can be done at the copier, just to identify what groups are using the most paper and to raise awareness.
Search committee/ministry: The budget as proposed funds Rod as full-time interim minister through the budget year. It does not fund a search committee. It was felt that this should be made perfectly clear to the congregation at the budget meeting