Sign In Forgot Password

Developments from the Annual Meeting

07/06/2022 08:22:16 PM

Jul6

David Waldman, BCRC President

Several items of business dispensed with at the Annual Congregational Meeting, held on June 22nd, were significant enough that I anticipate many members will have questions about them. I hope I can answer many of them here, but as always, we welcome further questions and comments, in case you don't find the answers you're looking for in this and subsequent posts.

At the top of the list of changes is the 10% dues increase (our first since 2018, not 2015 as I'd previously thought) attached to the budget for the 2023 fiscal year, which began on July 1. As many of you are aware, pandemic-related revenue losses and inflationary price increases have taken their toll everywhere, and BCRC is no exception.

I will note here that the Board has not recommended a dues increase since 2018. Had dues, religious school tuition, building fund and security fees increased to keep pace with rising costs at, say, 2-3% annually since then, our total fee load today would actually be even higher than it is with our current 10% dues-only increase.

Beth Chaverim, of course, means "house of friends." And although we love to emphasize the fact that we are a congregation of friends, at no time is it more critical that we remember that we have a house to run than it is at annual budget time. In addition to the financial set-backs of the pandemic, we must prepare to face major capital expenses as our building ages. Unseen by most members, seven industrial-sized HVAC units sit atop our roof, all of which are nearing the end of their life expectancies, save two which were recently replaced at a cost of some $24,000. Within the next few years, BCRC expects to incur in excess of $50,000 in replacement costs for these units alone. For that reason, our FY2023 budget includes a $15,000 capital reserve fund from our general operating account.

Another major agenda item from the meeting involves the sale of a portion of our property in the building. The "South Bay" property has, for the most part, been separate from our familiar BCRC floor plan, unseen by most congregants, and occupied for the past several years by our neighbors from the ADAMS Center, under the terms of a multi-year lease agreement. That lease agreement, after several negotiated extensions, finally expired at the end of 2021. Although ADAMS had no further use for the space, they did make an offer to purchase it at a reduced price. But at about the same time, we received an offer from the Telugu Christian Fellowship Church, affiliated with our former neighbors at the Christian Fellowship Church, previously located on the property just across Beaumeade Circle from our front door.

Where the sale of the South Bay property will impact us is with regard to the area occupied by our present kitchen and storage room. These were originally a part of the South Bay but were carved out for our use, when the South Bay was unoccupied. That left a very small and irregularly-shaped space on the other side of the wall, which was considerably less desirable and consequently less marketable. By giving up the kitchen and storage room space and reuniting it with the rest of the South Bay, we were able to get a much better price for the unit, and the proceeds of the sale will allow us to: 1) pay down our mortgage (remember that we are a "house," after all) by over half a million dollars; 2) pay to create a new kitchen and storage space in the classrooms directly across the hall, and; 3) further capitalize our reserve and general operating funds.

The third development from the annual meeting involves an amendment to our BCRC constitution, the second in as many years. For two years in a row, the board has recommended a change to the terms of our Senior memberships. In the process of considering these changes, it was noted that because our membership categories were enshrined in our constitution, the board had only one opportunity each year to make changes: at the Annual Congregational Meeting, where constitutional amendments are adopted. So this year, the board recommended an amendment removing the membership categories from the constitution, and readopting them as a board-enacted bylaw. The categories will initially remain the same, but the board gains the flexibility to address changes as the need arises, without having to wait for the annual meeting each time.

I'll address the plans for and impact of the South Bay sale, as well as further plans for a new Senior membership category, in greater detail in separate posts in the near future.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784