2024 Priest’s Convocation, April 29-May 2
As required, I will be away from the parish following Mass on Monday, April 29 until Thursday, May 2 for our Annual Priests’ Convocation in Hershey, PA. Father Calabro will be covering the 8:30am Mass on Tuesday and Wednesday. Deacon Fred will have a Communion Service on Thursday. Please pray for me and the other priests of the Archdiocese during our annual Convocation. Be assured of our prayers for you.
The Resolution of our Parish Debt to the Archdiocese for Past and Current Bills: Paid, $110,423.58 Owed, $59,575.64 (before June 30)
Our annual insurance and assessment bills total about $120,000, and we still owed for unpaid insurance bills carried over from Father Dominic’s time, $51,001. So, this year’s debts were close to $170,000.
Since I arrived two years ago, we have used our Diocesan Trust Account to pay the annual Parish Assessments (taxes) to the Archdiocese. You may remember that I had to pay $58,600 within the first week of my arriving here to pay for the unpaid assessment for 2021-2022. And that Fall, with the Finance Council’s advice, we dedicated the remaining monies in that account to pay each year’s assessment bills, which has been a great help to us.
This past week I directed the business manager, with the approval of the Finance Council to pay off the differed insurance debt from Fr. Dominic’s time (2021-2022), and we used $47,597.58 from our parish accounts to make that payment. ($25,000 came from our On-Line Giving Account and $22,597.58 from the Social Ministry Account). These monies paid for Insurance, Liability, Property and Worker’s Comp, Clergy Healthcare and Benefits and Priest Retirement bills.
This week, I also directed the business manager, with the approval of the Finance Council, that this year’s assessment be paid from our Archdiocesan Trust Account.
The balance of that account was, as you know from the Financial Report shared with you this past October was $62,826.78. The assessment bill for this year totaled, $59,400. So there was a balance of almost $3,500. The remaining monies ($3,426) paid off the a few of the insurance bills from 2021-2022, namely: $484 for disability insurance, $298 for Liability insurance, Financial Reporting Software Fee, $130, and Priest’s Auto Insurance 2021-22, $2,514.
In short, we have closed this account by paying off this year’s assessment payment, and with the remaining monies, paid a few of the bills still owed from Fr. Dominic’s time.
In context, I am grateful for having the Archdiocesan Trust Account to assist the Parish these past few years. You may recall that during Archbishop’s Chaput’s time, the Archdioceses ceased its Internal Banking Savings and Loan Program. So even if we wanted to deposit money with them, they stopped that about 8 years ago. Constructively, we’ve used that money to assist us meeting our bills these past years, and especially during such difficult economic times.
Our remaining debt, for current year insurance bills totals, $59,575.64. Before the end of June these bills will be paid either from our parish accounts or from Parish Monies held in the Philadelphia Trust Company, or a combination of both. Again, the Finance Council is aware of this plan, and has given approval.