Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes DRAFT. October 27, 2015

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1 Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes DRAFT October 27, 2015 Attendees: Board of Trustees (Stephen Brannon, Chair; Paula Bendl Smith; John Bohman; Wendy Jessup; Janice Morris; Chad Ohlandt; Kristen Patterson; Mary Pike; Andrea Ryon); Joan Perry (Secretary); Rev. Aaron McEmrys (Senior Minister); Rev. Dr. Linda Olson Peebles (Minister of Faith in Action); Shelly Thompson (Ministerial Intern); Beth Enriquez (Church Bookkeeper) Brenda King, Sally Recinos, Chris and John Sutton (UUCA members) Allen Keiswetter (Strategic Planning Committee) 7:30 Call to Order, Chalice Lighting, and Check-in Steve Brannon read from Chapter 2 of the Tao Te Ching about letting go. Consent Agenda Minutes of 22 September 2015 Board Meeting APPROVED Previous Action Items Status # Person Responsible Action Status 1 Rev. Aaron Provide an update on the bid process for a new HVAC. 2 Board members Research other UU church s Dashboards and send results to Janice Morris. 3 Janice Morris Send summary of Dashboard research to board members 4 Steve Brannon Research how other churches monitor Treatment of Staff No new updates Done Done Done Financial Report (Beth Enriquez) ATTACHMENT 1 More people are paying up on last year s pledges which brings us now to a 95% fulfillment rate (up from 92% in June-end of the fiscal year). Many people are paying their pledges for this year up front too so we are ahead of budget for the first quarter. Rental income is also ahead of the budgeted amount. Rev. Aaron pointed out this is an area of real growth potential and he wants to go after the rentals aggressively. Rental income comes from not just weddings in the sanctuary. The Moroccan American prayer group rents our facility Friday afternoons and they are very happy with the arrangement. 1

2 Treasurer s Update ATTACHMENT 2 Peter Vitaliano (Treasurer) was out of town, but the group discussed a few items based on his report, starting with the status of the loan from the Endowment Fund to the Open Door Housing Fund. The board requested a further update at the November meeting. Rev. Aaron explained the role of the Finance Committee. This is a group of volunteers whose purpose is to advise the executive on money matters. Since a new Chief Operating Officer has not yet been hired, Peter Vitaliano has stepped up and taken on more responsibility than the treasurer ordinarily would need to. Beth Enriquez has also stepped up and been immensely helpful to Rev. Aaron this past quarter. Rev. Aaron praised both Beth and Peter for their hard work and dedication. Board-Executive-Minister Covenant (Rev. Aaron) Rev. Aaron facilitated a discussion to start creating a Board-Executive-Minister Covenant. The relationship between the board and the minister is a covenant based in mutual trust, support and kindness. The two work collaboratively discerning their respective roles and shared values, and engage each other in deep dialogue with open minds and hearts. Rev. Aaron asked the board to consider the kind of behavioral practices they might want to commit to that will foster our shared values of gratitude, trust, commitment, diversity, and compassion. The board reviewed each value and offered up different examples of what kind of behaviors and actions would reinforce our values. In discussing trust, for example, several factors in building that foundation were mentioned including demonstrating honesty and forgiveness, asking wondering questions, and taking time to listen and share with each other. This discussion will continue at the next meeting then the board and Rev. Aaron will narrow down the key behaviors they want to model to support their relationship in a written Covenant which will help to guide ongoing efforts to work together in the best interests of the church. Strategic Planning Team Report (Allen Keiswetter and Rev. Aaron) Rev. Aaron has appointed a team to advise and assist him in strategic planning. The members are Kate Beysselance, Allen Keiswetter, Abbie Mae Miller, Kelsey Murray, Annie Parker, Tracey Rogers, Art Stevens, James Tsai, and JohnA Zeray. Allen and Aaron briefly described what the Team would be doing, explaining they will focus on proposing strategic benchmarks for the Executive along the way to achieving the Church s Ends as adopted by the Board and interpreted by Rev. Aaron. The church s 5-year rolling budget will be connected to the strategic planning process. The Team s work will be in the area between the Ends and interpretations on the one side, and the practical work of paid staff and volunteers on the other. The Team will be looking to articulate what success looks like and how it is to be measured and in what time frame. The board will be receiving updates on their work as determined by Aaron. 2

3 9:49 Adjournment ACTION ITEMS # Person Responsible Action Status 1 Board Spend at least one hour to identify behaviors from covenant conversation and distill them down. Send the results to Joan to compile. 2 Rev. Aaron Provide an update on the bid process for a new HVAC. 3 Peter Vitaliano Provide an update on the status of the Open Door Housing Fund loan November 10 November 17 November 17 4 Rev. Aaron Publish completed Annual Report December 1 3

4 ATTACHMENT 1 4

5 September 2015 Revenue Attached is summary page for revenue and expenses showing pledges and contributions nearly $60,000 higher for the first quarter compared to the first quarter of last year. The increase is primary due to the fact that pre-paid pledges were approximately $19,000 higher this year. Prepaid pledges are pledges paid by member/friends prior to June 30th (during the year), but for their pledges. These prepaid amounts are maintained in a restricted fund until July 1st when they are released into revenue for the pledge year. Additionally, in the first quarter of , we received $18,000 more in prior year pledge payments than we had received in the first quarter of last year. Although these pledges are credited to the members previous pledge, they are counted as revenue in this year when they are received. Finally regular pledge payments and contributions for the first quarter are approximately $23,000 higher for the first quarter compared to last year. This has to do with the timing of payments by larger donors. Rental income was approximately $13,000 higher than the previous year due to additional rentals from summer camps and due to the rental received from the Moroccan American Community who are now holding their Friday prayer services here on Friday afternoons. Rental income in the first quarter is just ahead of expectations at 27% received through of the total $116,000 budgeted. Note: The September 2014 YTD total for other revenue includes $80,000 in memorial garden fees recognized as income in error. This amount should have been recognized as a release of funds from the memorial garden fund to the general operating budget and not as income. The error will correct in Feb September 2015 Expenses Attached is summary page for revenue and expenses continues to show savings in the Staff line due to the vacancies in the DLRE and COO positions as well as the reduction in staff hours and the reduction in the retirement contribution by the church from 14% to 11% effective 7/1/15. The savings is somewhat offset by additional hours approved for select staff until the new administrator is on board and transition expenses for the new DLRE. GTP YTD: $19, Report attached Capital Campaign Pledges Collected in July totaled $6,400. 5

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7 Run Date 10/23/ Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA Page 1 Time 15:26:17 Fiscal Year Beginning 7/1/2015 Budgeted Financial Statement for Period 03 September 25.00% Revenues and Expenses Summary Report Description Actual for Period Actual YTD Budget Annual Budget % Bud Balance Act PY Period Act PY to Date REVENUE -- GENERAL OPERATING FUND 4099 Pledges & Contributions 106, , ,264, , , , Fundraising Revenue , , , Rental Revenue 10, , , , , , Program Revenue , , Other Revenue , , , , TOTAL REVENUES 117, , ,468, ,050, , , Staff 87, , , , , , Church Office 2, , , , , , Ministry & Worship 1, , , , , , Children & Youth Ministry , , , , Member Support 2, , , , , , Communications 1, , , , , Faith in Action & Outreach 1, , , , , Our Wider Movement 9, , , , , Buildings & Grounds 15, , , , , , Mortgage 10, , , , , , TOTAL EXPENDITURES 132, , ,466, ,118, , , ******SUMMARY****** TOTAL REVENUE 117, , ,468, ,049, , , TOTAL EXPENDITURES -132, , ,466, ,118, , , NET -14, , , ****** -68, , ,

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9 ATTACHMENT 2 9

10 Report to: From: Re: Date: UUCA Board of Trustees UUCA Treasurer Status of Loan from UUCA Endowment Fund to OpenDoor Housing Fund Endowment Fund balance in Fiscal Year Beginning 7/1/2015 October 27, 2015 Board Meeting The long-term assets of the UUCA Endowment Fund consist primarily of the loan from the Capital Campaign, with a current balance of $612,681.78, comprising almost 94% of those long-term assets and just over 38% of the total assets of the EF. The current status of this loan was described in the Treasurer s report and discussed at the August Board meeting. The remaining portion of the EF longterm assets are notes, of long standing, receivable from the OpenDoor Housing Fund, with a face value on the Church balance sheet books of $41,500. We contacted ODHF this summer with a request to redeem these notes for UUCA. We were informed, via telephone conversation, a subsequent conference call on July 8 with all ODHF note holders and a follow up letter on July 14, that the organization was experiencing financial difficulties, was suspending interest payments and redemptions pending discussions to explore a merger with another local affordable housing lending organization. At that time, ODHF indicated that the alternative to a successful merger would be liquidation of the organization, in which case it is anticipated that investors will receive approximately 50% of the funds lent to ODHF on a pro-rata basis during the 4 th quarter of this year and as additional outstanding loans are repaid by borrowers in the future years of , investors should receive subsequent disbursements of such funds on a pro-rata basis. In a subsequent letter on September 24, we were informed that the merger option had been subsequently deemed not in the interest of the ODHF s note holders, that ODHF was proceeding to liquidate the organization, and that It is projected that noteholders will receive an initial return of proceeds of approximately 29.9% of the principal face value of their notes plus any interest that was due as of June 30, It is projected that these initial payments will be forwarded to noteholders by mid-december of this year. Finally, as additional outstanding loans are repaid by current borrowers in the future years of , noteholders should receive subsequent disbursements of such funds on a prorata basis as they become available to ODHF. UUCA has previously received all interest due on the ODHF loans as of June 30, We have responded to an option to donate all or a portion of any subsequent disbursements by requesting that the remaining pro-rata balance of our notes be returned to UUCA as future funds are received by ODHF. We have also contacted the organization to recommend that ODHF s current loan portfolio be sold at the appropriate discounted value and the proceeds returned to noteholders, as opposed to incurring the costs of servicing those loans through The assets of the Endowment Fund were listed in the UUCA balance sheet as $991,797 for July, $952,547 for August and $922,585 for September, reflecting the impact of the stock market volatility during the third quarter on the Fund s portfolio of investments. 10

11 Peter Vitaliano Treasurer, UUCA 11