Financial Update

As of the end of May, our financial patterns continue as they did through the first quarter of the year. Our regular expenses are well-controlled. Offerings remain a little short of the budgeted amount.

2024 has included three sets of extraordinary expenses so far. These are: expenses related to a new rector (moving costs, office set up, etc.); replacement of the dishwasher in the Activity Centre kitchen; replacement of sump pumps in the Activity Centre. These are not standard expenses and, God willing, will not be repeated any time soon.

There is another, incoming, extraordinary expense: the two furnaces in the 1891 portion of the building have given up and need to be replaced before winter arrives. We are in the process of receiving estimates for how this need might be addressed. Options include replacement with similar units (natural gas) and a switch to a heat pump system, which would reduce our carbon footprint considerably. We have identified a grant for institutions who are replacing old equipment with more energy-efficient units, for which St John's would be eligible, that should help to defray a portion of this yet-unknown cost.

Paying all of these expenses means that we are currently financing operations using our overdraft/line of credit at the bank. We are about $8,800 into our overdraft as of June 18. The interest costs are not outrageous, but paying interest is never ideal. The annual vestry approved a withdrawal of up to $20,000 from the Endowment Fund to cover the cost of the sump pumps. If the chequing account balance has not moved back into a positive balance by the end of September, the corporation will proceed with a withdrawal to cover the necessary amount.

Yours in Christ,

The Parish Corporation

(Deborah Bowen, Mary Donkin, Sue Newbery, Andrew Rampton