Can Scouts "borrow" money from Budget-YM?

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funaddict
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Posts: 45
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 12:03 pm

Can Scouts "borrow" money from Budget-YM?

#1

Post by funaddict »

Here's our situation: Scouts need to put down a deposit of $500 for this years scout camp. They are not paying for camp out of budget funds. They haven't raised/collected the money for camp yet, and would like to pay the deposit out of the YM budget, and then repay the deposit amount back to budget after the camp funds have been collected. I know that these activities are supposed to be paid for entirely out of Budget funds, but between Girls camp, scout camp and 11 year olds camp, this would wipe out about 95 per cent of the entire ward budget. These aren't extravagant affairs; they are the regular stake sponsered girls camp and BSA camps. This doesn't even touch the High adventure activity. How are we supposed to pay for these out of the ward budget, when it isn't nearly big enough to cover them? But I digress.. So can I write a check from budget and then replace the money in a few weeks once the Other-Scout Camp acct. receives funds?
Thanks,
Alan
allenjpl
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Posts: 341
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:26 am
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA

#2

Post by allenjpl »

funaddict wrote:Here's our situation: Scouts need to put down a deposit of $500 for this years scout camp. They are not paying for camp out of budget funds. They haven't raised/collected the money for camp yet, and would like to pay the deposit out of the YM budget, and then repay the deposit amount back to budget after the camp funds have been collected. I know that these activities are supposed to be paid for entirely out of Budget funds, but between Girls camp, scout camp and 11 year olds camp, this would wipe out about 95 per cent of the entire ward budget. These aren't extravagant affairs; they are the regular stake sponsered girls camp and BSA camps. This doesn't even touch the High adventure activity. How are we supposed to pay for these out of the ward budget, when it isn't nearly big enough to cover them? But I digress.. So can I write a check from budget and then replace the money in a few weeks once the Other-Scout Camp acct. receives funds?
Thanks,
Alan

There are a couple things going on here. First, it's March. That means that paying for scout camp should be nearly done with, not just started. If I had to guess, I'd say that the scouts aren't maintaining their 12-month plans. Again, this isn't really a money issue. It's a planning issue. The planning for this camp should have begun by September or October of last year. The youth leaders should definitely receive some training on that. So should the adults.

Second, your question is how to pay for the deposit. That part is simple, if the bishop agrees. If the bishop has already decided that budget funds are insufficient to pay for the camp, the next step is to ask the participants to pay for it. Any funds collected from the participants are placed in the Other account subcategory for the activity. You pay the expenses from the Other subcategory. There is actually no need to *borrow* funds from the budget. Just pay it from the Other subcategory. It will push the subcategory in the red, but that's okay for now. Just keep depositing funds from participants into the Other subcategory. If, after the event is over with, the subcategory is STILL in the red, you have to take some action. If it is in the red because the participants haven't contributed enough, then either collect the remaining amount from the participants, or clear the balance by cutting a check from the Budget. Note that last step: if you spend the money, and you can't collect enough from participants (plus the third step in funding summer camp, the single approved fundraiser), then the money must come from the budget. If it blows the ward's budget, it blows the ward's budget. Just something to be wary of.

If the bishop isn't comfortable floating the deposit, and if the bishop feels that budget funds are insufficient to pay for the camp, then you don't cut the check until you receive the funds. And if that means that the scouts can't attend that particular camp, they will have to make other arrangements.
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