Why have a ward budget and reimbursements?

[TheBYUGuy]

Why does the ward have a budget for each of the auxiliaries? This is something I've been mulling over for the last couple days and haven't come up with an answer that makes sense. Why don't we just pay for various activities out of our own pockets?

Many of us have covenanted to give everything we have to the Church. So why whould you worry about whether you get reimbursed $50 for, say, a youth activity that you paid for from your own pocket? If it's truly a worthwhile activity, you should be happy to pay for it as part of your covenant, right?

If we got rid of the budget, we would also get rid of the issues that arise when auxiliaries overspend or underspend their budget for the year. And it would save the clerks a lot of time.

[scottie]

Why does the ward have a budget for each of the auxiliaries? This is something I've been mulling over for the last couple days and haven't come up with an answer that makes sense. Why don't we just pay for various activities out of our own pockets?

Many of us have covenanted to give everything we have to the Church. So why whould you worry about whether you get reimbursed $50 for, say, a youth activity that you paid for from your own pocket? If it's truly a worthwhile activity, you should be happy to pay for it as part of your covenant, right?

If we got rid of the budget, we would also get rid of the issues that arise when auxiliaries overspend or underspend their budget for the year. And it would save the clerks a lot of time.

What does the church then do with its surplus then if it's not paying for activities and such? People shouldn't feel bad about asking for reimbursements IMO.

[TheBYUGuy]

What does the church then do with its surplus then if it's not paying for activities and such? People shouldn't feel bad about asking for reimbursements IMO.

Options:

1. Lower tithing
2. Build more temples
3. More humanitarian projects to go along with the revised Church mission or purpose

People have been conditioned to not feel bad about reimbursements because they've been told for so long to turn all their receipts in.

[scottie]

Options:

1. Lower tithing
2. Build more temples
3. More humanitarian projects to go along with the revised Church mission or purpose

People have been conditioned to not feel bad about reimbursements because they've been told for so long to turn all their receipts in.

I just don't think the reimbursement thing is a very big deal. Budgets are so small that I'm sure there's already plenty of non-reimbursement activity on the part of the members going on.

[Moliere]

This is a great question (IMHO) and I've thought about it a lot lately. Let me know if I'm off the deep end here but the ward budget is a very loose form of the law of consecration.

We pay tithing to the church and the church in turn pays for buildings, temples, utilities for the buildings, and other things including ward budgets. That money is allocated based on active members of the church. My guess is that the more affluent areas of the church (i.e. USA) pay the majority of tithing funds, but those funds are used to benefit members of the church throughout the world. In a way its a redistribution of wealth from areas of the world that are wealthy to areas that otherwise wouldn't have the money to fund a building or pay for church outings and expenses.

The sad part is that I'll never have enough data to see if my theory is correct. All I know is that my ward currently pays way more than is needed to fund our chapel and operations and I can only assume the excess is used to assist poorer areas of the world.

[Katy Lied]

Some of us are required to spend money because of our church calling. Depending upon circumstance, the cost can be oppressive. For example, the RS Compassionate Service leader always purchases the ham for funeral dinners, and farms the funeral potatoes and other items out to RS volunteers. With only a few days notice, it is convenient for the ward to purchase the ham. This past fall, our ward held 5 funerals in a month, including 2 on one day. That's almost $500 someone would have to shell out.

[Pheidippides]

This is a great question (IMHO) and I've thought about it a lot lately. Let me know if I'm off the deep end here but the ward budget is a very loose form of the law of consecration.

We pay tithing to the church and the church in turn pays for buildings, temples, utilities for the buildings, and other things including ward budgets. That money is allocated based on active members of the church. My guess is that the more affluent areas of the church (i.e. USA) pay the majority of tithing funds, but those funds are used to benefit members of the church throughout the world. In a way its a redistribution of wealth from areas of the world that are wealthy to areas that otherwise wouldn't have the money to fund a building or pay for church outings and expenses.

The sad part is that I'll never have enough data to see if my theory is correct. All I know is that my ward currently pays way more than is needed to fund our chapel and operations and I can only assume the excess is used to assist poorer areas of the world.

Agreed. My ward pays more in one week (by a factor of three, on average) than our budget for the entire year.

[creekster]

Options:

1. Lower tithing
2. Build more temples
3. More humanitarian projects to go along with the revised Church mission or purpose

People have been conditioned to not feel bad about reimbursements because they've been told for so long to turn all their receipts in.

Budgets are both limiting and enhancing. In poorer areas they enhance what acitvities are offered to the members and in richer areas they may limit what acitvities can be offered (or at least they should be). Moreover, it also make the organization responsible for the activity as opposed to the caprice fo the leader (or the size of the leader's purse). It makes the organization accoubntable. You would probabyl save more time for finaicail clerks if you forbade coins as tithing or fast offerings than you would by eliminating reimbursement requests.

[WashingtonCoug]

Here's the situation I thought of.

Example A - This ward resides in a very poor part of town. Families are struggling just to pay rent. Nobody would have the money to pay for any activities. The money just wouldn't be there.

Example B - In the more affluent part of town they have tons of activities going on. You groups are going on trips and the ward party is filet mignon.

I think you have to have that ward budget in order to help those wards that don't have the money.

Also an example we have now going on is that our Bishop pays for a lot of the youth activities out of his own pocket. What happens when the next Bishop comes in and he can't afford such luxuries? The ward has grown accustomed to these activities that won't be provided for by the next Bishop. I think wards should be held to their budget and members shouldn't be allowed to use money from their own pockets. If you want to give the church more money, give it to the perpetual education fund or pay for some poor kids mission.

[creekster]

Here's the situation I thought of.

Example A - This ward resides in a very poor part of town. Families are struggling just to pay rent. Nobody would have the money to pay for any activities. The money just wouldn't be there.

Example B - In the more affluent part of town they have tons of activities going on. You groups are going on trips and the ward party is filet mignon.

I think you have to have that ward budget in order to help those wards that don't have the money.

Also an example we have now going on is that our Bishop pays for a lot of the youth activities out of his own pocket. What happens when the next Bishop comes in and he can't afford such luxuries? The ward has grown accustomed to these activities that won't be provided for by the next Bishop. I think wards should be held to their budget and members shouldn't be allowed to use money from their own pockets. If you want to give the church more money, give it to the perpetual education fund or pay for some poor kids mission.

That was one of the points I was trying to make but you said it better.

[Art Vandelay]

Agreed. My ward pays more in one week (by a factor of three, on average) than our budget for the entire year.

That is likely true for most North American wards, maybe not 1 wk tithing> 1 year budget, but I'm sure 1-2months>>1 year budget. With that said, most of the operating costs (electricity, lawncare, cleaning) and certainly construction are not part of a ward's budget. I'm friends with the regional physical facilities manager, a former bishop, he said he was shocked at how much money is paid for all these things just in our neck of the woods. Within his region there is almost always either a new building or renovation of an older one going on. According to him in our area receipts are barely above expenditures.

[Pheidippides]

You would probabyl save more time for finaicail clerks if you forbade coins as tithing or fast offerings than you would by eliminating reimbursement requests.

Amen! Especially on the week the primary gives the lesson about tithing, which somehow always comes during tithing settlement season.

[Art Vandelay]

Amen! Especially on the week the primary gives the lesson about tithing, which somehow always comes during tithing settlement season.

I love when the sunbeams knock on my door and each hand me an envelope with a penny. They are all so happy and proud to have their very own tithing payment. I also rarely if ever count and have to reconcile though.

[TheBYUGuy]

Here's the situation I thought of.

Example A - This ward resides in a very poor part of town. Families are struggling just to pay rent. Nobody would have the money to pay for any activities. The money just wouldn't be there.

Example B - In the more affluent part of town they have tons of activities going on. You groups are going on trips and the ward party is filet mignon.

I think you have to have that ward budget in order to help those wards that don't have the money.

Also an example we have now going on is that our Bishop pays for a lot of the youth activities out of his own pocket. What happens when the next Bishop comes in and he can't afford such luxuries? The ward has grown accustomed to these activities that won't be provided for by the next Bishop. I think wards should be held to their budget and members shouldn't be allowed to use money from their own pockets. If you want to give the church more money, give it to the perpetual education fund or pay for some poor kids mission.

This makes sense. I was thinking of things at a micro rather than a macro level. It makes sense to put a bunch of money in a pool so that members will theoretically have the same activity opportunities regardless of personal financial situation.

I'm still wondering why people should care whether they get reimbursed for their expenses, especially those who are not scraping by from month to month.

[creekster]

I also rarely if ever count and have to reconcile though.

Obviously not.

And it isn't the cute sunbeam with a single penny that takes time, its the 14 year old who has a year's worth of quarters and nickels and dimes put into an envelope that weighs about 6 pounds and takes 15 minutes to count (and that doesn't count the 20 minutes it took to pick up the coins after the envelope breaks and the coins went all over the place) that causes the problem.