Financial Management Plan

During the COVID19 pandemic, Parish Council has implemented a management plan to ensure the financial sustainability of the parish, which will in turn assist our sustainability in ministry and mission.

The plan has three elements:

  1. Reduce expenditure to ‘essentials’ only

  2. Sustain income from planned giving and seek other sources of income

  3. Draw down on reserves

If the plan is successful, we are confident that the parish can remain financially sustainable for up to 12 months of ‘lockdown’.

It is unlikely that there will be an Annual Meeting of Parishioners in June. The Parish Governance Statute allows the meeting to be moved to later in the year with the Archbishop’s permission. The Rector will call the Annual Meeting of Parishioners with the Archbishop’s permission as soon as possible after restrictions are lifted. In the meantime, Parish Council is operating from an interim budget, based on the financial management plan.

Below, we have provided more information about the steps that have been taken for each element of the financial management plan.. We welcome feedback on each element, including any suggestions or advice. Please email feedback to info@hillsanglicans.com

1. Reduce Expenditure to ‘essentials’ only

Parish Council considers that the Rector’s stipend, allowances and office expenses are essentials. The following areas have been reduced:

  1. All electrical appliances and the hot water system have been switched off

  2. Contract cleaning of the parish centre has been suspended

  3. The remaining work on the restoration project has been postponed (e.g external book cabinet, stained glass window repair)

  4. Diocesan Council has reduced the ‘assessment’ for 2019-20 by $2250, and further reductions will be available on application

2. Sustain income from planned giving and seek other sources of income

Parish Council is grateful to the many members of the parish community who give electronically, and we encourage others to take this up where possible. We are also grateful to those who usually give in cash or cheque, but are putting money aside for when we are able to collect it again. We appreciate that some households will experience reduced income during this time, and we are planning for an overall reduction in giving. However, we also wish to encourage parishioners with a secure income to continue giving where possible. Some things to note:

  1. So far, electronic giving has remained consistent

  2. We are no longer receiving income from groups who use our facilities, nor from ‘open plate’ collections on Sundays

  3. Father Chris will be taking up a day of ministry at Amana Living, and the parish will be reimbursed for his time

  4. At present, the Perth Diocesan Trustees (the legal entity which ‘employs’ clergy and lay staff) is not eligible for JobKeeper subsidies, however this is being explored with the relevant authorities.

3. Draw down on reserves

The parish has approximately $31,000 in cash reserves, some of which was intended to pay for remaining restoration works. Ideally, we will limit the draw down on reserves, however a ‘worst case scenario’ is that all those funds are expended during the pandemic. The interim budget anticipates a deficit of approximately $23,000. This will leave the parish with a very small ‘buffer’ in the event of further challenges.