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Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:59 pm
by atticusewig
I would be interested in knowing how many of the stakes
are disbursing Budget allocations to the wards using the
percent transfer method verses issuing checks.

In my Stake the Stake President sets the Stake to receive
100% of each ward's allocation, and then gives the ward an
specific amount via check once they get the most recent
Quarterly Reports submitted.

In my area it seems that many Stake Presidents do it this
way rather than using percentage method where a portion
of the allocation is automatically deposited into the ward's
bank account. Even the ones that do that, sometimes manipulate
each percentage so a specific amount is deposited. For example:

SP: "I want the 1st Ward to get to an allocation of $400 this quarter"

Clerk: "Okay, then that means I need to set the percentage to 43%,
and it will give them an allocation of $402.45"

I wonder why the percentage method is the only option, and why a
Stake President can't just put in a flat amount ? And if that option
was added, would it make any difference ? Also, if there were an
option to place a hold on a budget allocations being deposited until
quarterly reports are received, would Stake Presidents be more
likely to move away from paper checks ?

Unless someone from Church HQ is willing to share their information, can the forum
do a simple poll that asks the forum members if their stake:
1) Distributes Budget Allocations by Check ?
2) Distributes Budget Allocations by Percentage ?
3) Distributes Budget Allocations by Percentage to reach a specific amount
(i.e. playing with the percentage until it comes close to an amount like $400) ?

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:07 pm
by Gary_Miller
Boy, talk about micro management!!!!!!!!!

My stake Distributes by percentage.

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:17 pm
by russellhltn
Under normal situations, I think by percentage is preferable. But if there has recently been a major boundary re-alignment, I can see why they would prefer a manual method until things settle down.

Most anything else I can think of could be done with percentages or with supplemental checks in addition to a basic percentage.

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:18 pm
by eblood66
Gary_Miller wrote:Boy, talk about micro management!!!!!!!!!

My stake Distributes by percentage.
Percentages here too. In our previous stake (our ward was moved from one stake to a neighboring stake a few years ago) they also did it by percentages even before CUBS was released. I expect they still do.

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 3:07 pm
by jdlessley
My current stake issues a check. My past two stakes used the percentage. I think issuing a check puts a great deal of unnecessary work on the stake clerks.

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 6:08 pm
by benjamincarleski
My stake does it by percentage.

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:24 pm
by lajackson
We use percentage unless there is a boundary change, then we adjust percentage or pull it all back and write checks for the affected units.

One reason a stake might not wish to use a percentage is because every ward sees what the percentages are. If the stake is not sharing equally, they have to deal with that. Of course, wards can also compare notes when they receive their checks.

Percentages are easier to manage and seem to provide more equality to me. If there is a need for a special allocation, we cut a check on top of the regular percentage.

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 8:38 pm
by Gary_Miller
lajackson wrote:One reason a stake might not wish to use a percentage is because every ward sees what the percentages are. If the stake is not sharing equally, they have to deal with that.
The whole idea of the budget allowance is that funds may not necessarily be distributed equally. For example a ward that has more senior citizens may not need as much money as a ward that has allot of youth. From the very beginning this was one of the principles in distributing funds.

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 9:39 pm
by allenjpl
lajackson wrote:We use percentage unless there is a boundary change, then we adjust percentage or pull it all back and write checks for the affected units.

One reason a stake might not wish to use a percentage is because every ward sees what the percentages are. If the stake is not sharing equally, they have to deal with that. Of course, wards can also compare notes when they receive their checks.
The ward can see the percentages the ward took out from their own allocation, not anyone else's. Since the stele can set each ward separately, they'd still have to compare notes to learn about any inequality.

Re: Budget Allocation disbursement methods

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:33 pm
by russellhltn
allenjpl wrote:The ward can see the percentages the ward took out from their own allocation, not anyone else's. Since the stele can set each ward separately, they'd still have to compare notes to learn about any inequality.
Well, if the ward can see the percentage, it seems to me to it might invite comparison on if the stake it taking too much. If the ward just gets a check, it's less visible. That's not to say it can't be calculated - it's just less visible.

A percentage is also much easier to compare between wards. An amount would have to compensate for a number of factors to decide if it was equal or not.