Totaling approximately $14 million, the annual funding of the work of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas is divided into three budgets to provide our congregations with accountability and transparency: an Operating Budget, an Insurance Budget and a Missionary Budget.

 

The Diocesan Operating Budget provides the resources for the canonical requirements of our common life. Through this budget we fund the compensation of our bishops and diocesan staff, the work of the diocesan center office and support of other administrative functions such as our quarterly magazine, Diolog: The Texas Episcopalian. In addition, this budget also receives a portion of its funding from grants and reimbursements from our diocesan foundations.

 

The Insurance Budget pays for the health insurance coverage for all clergy (active and retired) canonically resident in this diocese and their dependants. Note that the Insurance Assessment does not consider the number of clergy members at your location.  This figure is an allocation based on your church’s revenue. Our churches support this budget and the Operating Budget through their mandatory diocesan assessments.

 

Our Missionary Budget is entirely comprised of our congregations’ voluntary contributions to our common outreach work. Through this budget we fund the support of mission congregations of the diocese, our college work, diocesan support and outreach ministries and cooperative projects developed by our churches working in concert with one another. Over the last decade we have seen tremendous growth in this budget stemming directly from the involvement of our churches in determining how each ministry is supported through Mission Funding. Beginning in 2011, the Missionary Asking was split between an amount asked for by the Diocese to support various missions and outreach activities, and an amount to be administered by each church on its own for local outreach.

Calculating the Assessment

The Diocesan Assessment is comprised of two components: 1) the Total Operating Revenue of your church from the last year’s reported Parochial Report (ex: 2010’s total operating revenues used for 2012 calculation) and 2) the estimated total medical insurance expense for the forthcoming year.  The calculation is summarized as follows:

 

Part A – The Insurance Assessment 

1. The Total Operating Revenue (TOR) for all churches is added together.  Mission churches' TOR is limited to 75%.
2. The TOR for your church is then divided by the total for all churches to obtain the program cost factor (PCF) for your church.
3. This PCF is then multiplied by the estimated total medical insurance expense for the forthcoming year.  This figure is the Insurance Assessment.

 

Part B – The Base Factor – For Diocesan Assessment and Missionary Asking

1. The Total Operating Revenue is multiplied by a percentage factor (PF), which is based on the revenue size of the church.  This total now becomes the Base Factor. 
2. The Base Factor is limited so as not to increase or decrease more than 10% of the prior year’s Base Factor, BUT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES to be less than 10% or more than 20% of Total Operating Revenue (test 1 and 2 below).
3. If it does change more than 10% of last year’s rate, it is limited and the limited number will become the current year Base Factor. 
4. For 2012, this figure is then divided as follows: 34.27% for the Diocesan Assessment, 32.72% for the Missionary Asking – Diocese of Texas(DOT) + ECUSA and  33.01% for the Missionary Asking – Local Outreach.

 

 For questions contact the diocesan Controller, Allison McCloskey, CPA, at 713.353.2127. 

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Examples (amounts are rounded)

Total Operating Revenue of all churches $71,850,000

Estimated medical insurance to cover: $4,800,000 (includes group health coverage and insurance reserve, which covers mental health assessments and miscellaneous medical needs).

 

Part A – Insurance Assessment

Parish TOR = $500,000

All Parish TOR = $71,850,000

Estimated medical insurance = $4,800,000

Program Cost Factor (PCF) = 500,000 divided by 71,850,000 = .006959

PCF multiplied by estimated medical insurance = .006959 multiplied by 4,800,000 = Insurance Assessment = $33,403

 

 

Part B – Base Factor / Assessment & Askings

 

Example 1: Using a lower prior year base factor:

Parish TOR = $500,000

Percentage Factor = 16.75%

Base Factor = 500,000 multiplied by .1675 = $83,750

 

Prior year base factor = $60,000 (indicates that revenues for the year ended 2008 were lower than 2009)

               Test 1 – prior year base factor multiplied by 10% = 6,000; 

                       prior year base factor plus or minus 6,000 = $66,000 or $54,000 respectively – (so the base factor did change more than 10% as discussed in # 2 & 3 above; $83,750 vs. $66,000 is a difference of $17,750).

                Test 2 – TOR multiplied by 10% = 50,000 (floor); TOR multiplied by 20% = 100,000 (ceiling);

 

Thus, the base factor now becomes $66,000 because it can not change more than 10% of prior year’s as long as it is within the ceiling and floor.

 

Base Factor multiplied by Diocesan Assessment % = 66,000 multiplied by .3427 = $22,618

Base Factor multiplied by Missionary Asking - % = 66,000 multiplied by .3272 = $21,595

Base Factor multiplied by Missionary Asking – Local Outreach % = 66,000 multiplied by .3301 = $21,787

 

 Example2: Using a higher prior year factor:

Parish TOR = $500,000

Percentage Factor = 16.75%

Base Factor = 500,000 multiplied by .1675 = $83,750

 

Prior year base factor = $120,000 (indicates that revenues for the year ended 2008 were higher than 2009)

                Test 1 – prior year base factor multiplied by 10% = 12,000; 

                        prior year base factor plus or minus 12,000 = $132,000 or $108,000, respectively – (so the base factor did change more than 10% as discussed in # 2 & 3 above; $83,750 vs. $108,000 is a difference of $24,250).

                Test 2 – TOR multiplied by 10% = 50,000 (floor); TOR multiplied by 20% = 100,000 (ceiling);

 

Thus, the base factor now becomes $100,000 because it cannot go above the ceiling.

 

Base Factor multiplied by Diocesan Assessment % = 100,000 multiplied by .3427 = $34,270

Base Factor multiplied by Missionary Asking % = 100,000 multiplied by .3272 = $32,720

Base Factor multiplied by Missionary Asking – Local Outreach % = 100,000 multiplied by .3301 = $33,010