WASFAA 2011-12 Fiscal Planning Committee Quarterly Meeting

WASFAA 2011-12 Fiscal Planning Committee Quarterly Meeting

November 17, 2011

Coeur d’Alene Resort, CDA, Idaho

Present: Steve Herndon, Mindy Bergeron, Jack Edwards, Sandi Guidry, Adam Hatch, Laura Hughes, Tracey Lehman, Peter Miller, Ashley Munro, Sun Ow, Tami Sato, Kay Soltis, Leonard Walker

Not Present:Renee Davis, Wendy Olson, and those represented by other co-chair - Nichole Doering, Mary San Agustin

Call to order: A quarterly meeting of WASFAA’s Fiscal Planning Committee was held at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, CDA, Idaho,on November 17, 2011. The meeting convened at 8:17 am with co-chair Steve Herndon presiding and Tami Sato as actingsecretary.

MOTIONThe motion to approve the agenda was made bySandi Guidry and JackEdwards seconded it. MOTION CARRIED.

MOTIONApproval of minutes: A motion was made by Mindy Bergeron and seconded by AdamHatch to approve the minutes of the June 9, 2011 meeting. MOTION CARRIED.

TO DOPeter Miller: 1) Bank signature cards for Kay Soltis were not obtained; 2) Purchase of a new laptop to replace the broken one of the Secretary will be delayed until 2012 for budget reasons. We discussed exploring other lighter/smaller options for note taking 3) Savings by having “Super Week” not determined; 4) Payment was made to the HiltonHawaiianVillage; 5) Documents for NASFAA investment not obtained.

Ashley Munro: She is working with the conference committee to determine the number of event bags needed for future events. It was suggested that she also coordinate with JRSMLI chair.

Tracey Lehman/Mary San Agustin: The badge lanyards have not been purchased but they are working on this.

Renee Davis: The new WASFAA banner has been added to the asset inventory list. Steve Herndon added that the expired first aid kit should be removed from the asset inventory list.

Leonard Walker: He has responded to the IMN Solutions letter and declined signing a new contract with them for future conferences.

Size of Committee- Steve Herndon noted that the size of this year’s Fiscal Planning Committee was larger than normal due to the transition year to a new Fiscal Planning Chair (Wendy Olson). Next year the size will be closer to the designation in Policies and Procedures. Kay Soltis stated that sometimes other chairs are invited when there is a special budget concern.

WASFAA/NASFAA Investment Collaboration- An update was provided and we are still lacking IRS letter confirming our 501C3 status and original Articles of Incorporation. Sandi Guidry searched through boxes in our storage and Steve Herndon did some research. We should be able to get to the articles by pulling up a website. A third document was written by Kay Soltis to authorize Justin Draeger to give permission for him to authorize investing our funds. Kay Soltis added that the investment company wants original documents and that the IRS letter needs to say we are in good standing. The last thing is to actually transfer the money. One region has already transferred funds to NASFAA. Steve recollects that at a meeting 3 or 4 years ago, a letter was received by our retained lawyer, Richard Glasner asking us what should be done with WASFAA documents. Steve Herndon remembers having the manila folder during his term as WASFAA Treasurer. Renee Davissent a website that we could use but we think this might not be sufficient for the investment company. Tami Sato asked if we needed to obtain another lawyer and we discussed options that might be brought forth to Executive Council. Cost is a factor, maybe can get a retainer. Our lawyer retired 2-3 years ago.

TODO During this meeting FP members will take steps to get required documentation to NASFAA.

With the recent downturn of the market Peter Miller thought we might have lost more in our investment portfolio if we had transferred it to the NASFAA portfolio. Steve Herndon and Kay Soltis felt we would not have lost funds but we would just not have made as much as projected.

Negotiations with HiltonHawaiianVillage– An update was provided regarding the room block attrition penalty that was being negotiated and discussed at the previous fiscal planning meeting. Steve Herndon said it looks like $11,592 was the final room block attrition fee for 2011. Peter Miller used a lifetime number which was higher at $12,133.95 as the net result subsidy. Leonard Walker stated that for future conferences we will extend the time an attendee can cancel their room reservation without penalty.

Treasurer’s Report Overview – The November report was distributed and shows the loss in our Vanguard accounts. Peter Miller provided different reports but brought our attention to the Budget vs. Actual report, which will require adjustments to the 2011 FY budget. He also drafted out a proposed 2012 budget.

Review of WASFAA FY 2011 Committee/Activity Budget Revision Requests – Steve Herndon and Wendy Olson sent the EC forms that could be usedto request budget revisions. Six forms were returned: 1) EDAC could de-obligate $700; 2) Electronic Services requested keeping their unused portion of their budget for anticipated end of fiscal year processing; 3) Historical Archives has utilized their budget and did not anticipate additional expenses for FY 2011; 4) Site Selection request a $300 increase in their budget to fund site visits to conference and SDBSI locations; 5) Training has requested an additional $3,000 for Fall training materials and the Go2Meeting renewal contract; 6) Volunteer Development could de-obligate $500 since Kay Soltis utilized materials already printed up for state conferences. After discussion, all requests were granted. Ending change to 2011 budget was $36,500 higher with a dependence on asset reserves increasing from $61,750 to $65,150.

The 2011 Budget was balanced by adjusting expenses and income figures. The total income and expenses changed from $253,050 to $289,550 and dependence on asset reserves increased from $61,750 to $65,150.

JRSMLI Update -The JRSMLI contract required us to pay $10,000 to the hotel. Because of a good relationship we have with this site, there were no charges for attrition or the rooms not used. Laura Hughes believes the expenses will be below budget although some of the faculty costs for travel have been high. Laura Hughes is notsure what the final budget figures will be.

Review of WASFAA FY 2012 Budget Expenditure Requests – EC members were also asked to submit requests for FY 2012 and seven forms were returned.

1) Tracey Lehman provided information on the projected income and budget for the 2012 Conference and the proposed $325 fee was discussed. It was felt that it was better to have smaller incremental increases instead of level fee and then a big increase.Tracey Lehman relayed the concern re one-day registrations since the hotel space for plenary sessions may not be sufficient. It was decided that there would have to be a limit on the number of one-day registrations. Based on 250 attendees the projected conference expense would be $68,000 and the conference income $81,750 providing a $13,750 net income from this event.

MOTION Laura Hughes made a motion that the Conference Committee will have a $25 fee increase over last year’s rate, with consideration of location, costs and historical attendance of the conference site. Ashley Munro seconded it. MOTION CARRIED

2) EDAC –EDAC is requesting $200 for operations and $800 added to scholarships. For FY 2011 EDAC had a $1,000 budget but no expenditures were made. It was discussed thatEDAC would need to request scholarships separately. The FP committee decided to approve the $200 for EDAC committee expenses but reject additional funding for scholarships because the present scholarship fund allotted was not fully utilized. We’ll track their scholarship expenses next year.

3) Electronic Services and Historical Archives – The request was made for the same funding levels as FY 2011 and this was considered a reasonable request.

4) Newsletter – The request was made for $250 more for increased mailing costs. Peter Miller recommended not making this increase since for FY 2011 the expense was at $5,800 with no additional expenses expected. The budget for newsletter will remain at $6,000.

5) SDB Summer Institute- Chair Jim White was not present but he submitted proposed fees and requested approval. The proposed fees were discussed since they were lower than the previous year. The SDBSI is our major training event and a source of income for WASFAA. Kay Soltis mentioned that in her travels to state conferences members asked why do we charge so much for trainingsince we have assets. People don’t understand the concept of reserves. She recommended that we leave the fee at last year’s levels for the budget since we do not have the chair’s input. We are recommending higher rates for the projected 130 attendees (see chart below). It was felt that there should be a bigger cost difference between a double room and commuter. The FP recommendation will result in a total income of $78,625 and a rounded up total expenses of $73,000 for a net profit of $5,625 which is closer to last year’s net income level.

TODOKay Soltis will contact Jim White regarding these fee recommendations from FP.

Basic # Attendees / Jim’s #’s / FP #’s / Intermediate Attendees / Jim’s #’s / FP #’s
Double Room / 45 students / $575 / $625 / 10 students / $425 / $450
Single Room / 30 students / $725 / $750 / 10 students / $454 / $575
Commuter / 25 students / $560 / $560 / 10 students / $365 / $375

6) Training – Adam Hatch stated they are requesting $35,000 for FY 2012. This is $10,000 more than FY 2011 and is due to planned in-person training for Alaska and Hawaii and the FA 101 training. This year they have had some momentum on increasing the number of attendees. Since training final expenses includes a double charge for Go2Mtg (2010 fee paid In 2011) and the expenses to date are $26,000 it was decided that a $3,000 increase to $28,000 would be reasonable for FY 2012.

7) Volunteer Development – Has requested level funding at $500 for WASFAA booth materials.

Development of draft WASFAA FY 2012 Budget for review by EC – The final total income and total expenses for FY 2012 came to $286,400 with a dependence on asset reserves of $41,650. Peter Miller stated that he thinks the dependence on asset reserves for FY 2011 will be about $46,000 instead of the listed $65,150 due to committees not fully utilizing their budget.

Asset Inventory Review – Our supply of lanyards is low and we will need to order more for the conference. We usually order in bulk for cost effectiveness.

TO DOTracey Lehman will get together with Ashley Munro to determine the member gift (conference bag)

TO DOAshley Salisbury will need to remove the out-dated first-aid kit and eliminate it from the asset list.

Unfinished Business-The laptop for the secretary is broken with only half a screen functioning and is no longer under warranty. Luhui Whitebear states her IT staff says it is not worth fixing. The laptop was purchased in 2008.

TO DOPeter Miller will purchase another laptop or electronic device for the secretary to take minutes in January with funding from general administration.

New Business–Kay Soltis stated we need to get back to membership on our fiscal situation so they understand where money goes and where it is spent. She suggested a newsletter article to make sure the information is out there. Jack Edwards suggested including it in the next highlight.

TODOKay Soltis will include in her next President’s Highlight an explanation to WASFAA members how we stay fiscally sound and try to keep a healthy asset reserve.

Summary of FP meeting highlights for presentation to EC – Peter Miller will update the revised FY 2011 budget and new draft of the FY 2012 budget. Copies will be made to distribute to EC members.

MOTIONLauraHughes moved, and AshleyMunro seconded, that the meeting be adjourned. MOTION CARRIED.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:44 a.m.

_____________

Acting Secretary of WASFAADate of approval