New Unit (Split Units) - Procedural Questions

[gregwanderson]

I think it would be nice if this change was delayed until after Tithing Settlement. If not, there will be some additional headaches to sort out both during Tithing Settlement and while the clerks are preparing the reports. (The reports might be a challenge anyway if the changes occur before the end of January, but even worse if the changes happen before January 1st.). But I can't tell from the original post just how the timing will work out.

Callings won't automatically transfer to a new ward, but existing callings could remain the same for the individuals who stay in the same ward they were in, right? The last time our ward boundaries changed (two-and-a-half years ago) the Bishop of "Ward A" was moved into the new, "Ward B." So he was necessarily released from being Bishop of Ward A just before we were asked to sustain him as Bishop of Ward B. Meanwhile, the High Priest Group Leader of Ward A remained in Ward A, so there was no need to call/sustain him into a calling that he already had... as far as I know.

I try to understand this by momentarily ignoring the fact that there are boundary changes causing the adjustments. If a ward gets a new Bishopric it can cause some other callings to shift but, in general, doesn't affect very much of the ward organization. If a bunch of families moved out of a ward within a short period then you'd only need to re-arrange the callings to respond to the vacancies. Your boundary change is really just a combination of getting new people in the Bishopric and having a bunch of families move in-or-out at the same time. And, in a new ward, everybody needs to be newly called to serve because there was no ward organization to begin with.

[russellhltn]

They'll be just fine. The quarterly report reports average sacrament meeting attendance, so that will be quite reasonable.

Maybe for the new ward, but it will be higher for the two old wards. They'll be some money for people who left.

[caj36]

This is very helpful. Thank you all for your input. The change is happening after the first of the year, as I didn't want the stress of figuring out Tithing Settlement in the middle of this. I will certainly have more questions as we work through this.

[russellhltn]

The change is happening after the first of the year,

Well, that solves a lot of problems. The January disbursement will need special handing, but the April will be just fine. No worries about reports since everything should be settled.

[aebrown]

Maybe for the new ward, but it will be higher for the two old wards. They'll be some money for people who left.

If a split happens in the middle of a reporting month, then the wards that continue to exist will get a bump in terms of the sacrament meeting component. But the other components of the budget allocation should be reasonable, since they only report on the YM/YW/Primary members who actually are on the records as of the last day of the reporting month.

Of course, this thread was talking only about the new ward until you raised this new issue, but it would be an interesting little anomaly. In any case, this is only hypothetical, since we now know that the split discussed in this thread won't happen until January, which is not a month we submit quarterly reports on.

[russellhltn]

Of course, this thread was talking only about the new ward until you raised this new issue, but it would be an interesting little anomaly.

Oh, it would become an issue as soon as someone in the new ward figured out the old wards were getting "extra". Especially when the new ward is encountering expenses in "setting up office". But in this case, it has indeed become hypothetical.

[caj36]

Follow up question, this might make things more complicated. We are announcing the new Wards and setting apart the new Bishoprics at a joint meeting in the middle of December (before everyone leaves town for the holidays), but aren't having the new Wards meet together until the New Year. How does this impact Tithing Settlement? Once the new Bishops have been set apart, is it improper to have the old Bishops finish up Tithing Settlement? Thoughts?

[lajackson]

We are announcing the new Wards and setting apart the new Bishoprics at a joint meeting in the middle of December (before everyone leaves town for the holidays), but aren't having the new Wards meet together until the New Year. How does this impact Tithing Settlement? Once the new Bishops have been set apart, is it improper to have the old Bishops finish up Tithing Settlement?

[This is not a proper suggestion. See the edit following this paragraph.]
Your stake president will probably instruct the current bishops to complete tithing settlement and to continue to collect donations until the end of the year. This situation is a little unusual, but that would be the best way to do it.

[Edit November 14, 2013. My suggestion is not a good one. The day the bishop is released and a new bishop sustained, the outgoing bishop is no longer the bishop. He and his counselors (unless they are in the new bishopric) no longer accept contributions, and he has no authority to conduct tithing settlement. Once sustained and set apart, the new bishopric receives contributions and the new bishop conducts any further tithing settlement interviews that need to be conducted. The new bishop should use the information from the interviews the outgoing bishop conducted to prepare the tithing settlement reports.]

The January disbursement will need special handing, but the April will be just fine. No worries about reports since everything should be settled.

Actually, the first time the new ward will complete a quarterly report will be at the end of 1Q 2012, or March. The stake will then receive an automatic budget allowance for the 3rd quarter, beginning in July.

I would suggest that the stake zero out the automatic distribution of budget allowance to the current two wards (and the new ward when it appears) for the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2012, and then calculate and cut a check to each of the three wards for those two quarters.

The stake could then set the automatic distribution back into place in time for the 3rd quarter, because all three wards will have completed their new quarterly reports at the end of the 1st quarter that will drive the 3rd quarter allocation.

[aebrown]

Follow up question, this might make things more complicated. We are announcing the new Wards and setting apart the new Bishoprics at a joint meeting in the middle of December (before everyone leaves town for the holidays), but aren't having the new Wards meet together until the New Year. How does this impact Tithing Settlement? Once the new Bishops have been set apart, is it improper to have the old Bishops finish up Tithing Settlement? Thoughts?

The key is not when the wards meet together, but when the membership records are transferred. If the records are transferred before the end of the year, then the new bishop is responsible for tithing settlement. There's really no way around that -- only the ward that officially has the membership records is capable of submitting tithing declarations for the members. It's not a question of what is proper -- it's just not possible to have the former ward submit tithing declarations for people who moved out of their ward.

So if you want to delay all of that, the only way that can work is to delay transferring the membership records until some time in 2012. That may raise other problems with finishing processing the bishop change, but that would affect only one family, not the whole ward.

[crislapi]

The key is not when the wards meet together, but when the membership records are transferred. If the records are transferred before the end of the year, then the new bishop is responsible for tithing settlement.

The logical work-around, then, is to have the original 2 units finish tithing settlement before the middle of December.

I seem to recall that the names of anyone who donated during the year appear on the tithing declaration report, so it seems it would be possible for the declaration to be made through the original units. Especially now with CUBS and the fact that donor records are linked to membership records.