We are on schedule with the process that we described at the January congregational meeting and letters requesting a pledge of commitment for the 2015-2016 year are being mailed to all current members this week. One of the items we promised was a succinct analysis of the budget for the current year (2014‐2015) so all members understand the significance of their contributions and take ownership in the financial health of our congregation. Although we are still in the early stages of the budgeting process, we do not expect there to be substantial changes for the upcoming year.
Income
By far, the largest amount of our income comes from what was projected to be contributed as annual membership dues; this includes Mitzvah Circle dues that some members contributed over and above the assessed amount of dues. In order to keep our institution running and moving forward, this amount will need to be replaced by the voluntary contribution we are asking our members to pledge for 2015‐2016. You’ll see, however, that this is only about 2/3 of our revenue, and we will need to continue our fundraising efforts, as well as continue to charge fees for specific items, such as school tuition, High Holy Day seats and B’nei Mitzvah fees. Hopefully, as our endowment grows, our investment income will account for a greater percentage of our overall revenue.
| Revenue Source | 2014-2015 Budget | % of Total Income |
| Dues (including Mitzvah Circle) | $885,000 | 67.3% |
| School Tuition | $217,000 | 16.5% |
| Annual Appeal (Kol Nidre Appeal) | $45,000 | 3.4% |
| Fundraising | $45,000 | 3.4% |
| Investment Income | $40,000 | 3.0% |
| Temple Donations | $30,000 | 2.3% |
| B’nei Mitzvah Fees | $25,000 | 1.9% |
| High Holy Day Seats | $15,000 | 1.1% |
| House Rental (Including Children Garden Center) | $11,900 | 0.9% |
| Bulletin Advertising | $2,000 | 0.2% |
| Total Income | $1,315,900 |
Expenses
Our expenses are broken out by functional area. Each of these functional areas (with the exception of Special Programs) contains both salaries for staff and non-labor expenses. For example, the functional area “House” includes the labor expenses for our custodial staff, but also includes non-labor expenses for heating oil, snow removal and many other items. Approximately 75% of our overall budget goes to the people who we employ to help us fulfill our mission, from the Rabbi and the Cantor, to our office staff, our educational staff, teachers, tutors, custodial staff, musical accompanists and service leaders. There is one item that you will not see here: You will find no payments to service debt because TBA has no debt. We are proud of our long-standing practice of responsibly living within our means.
| Functional Area | 2014-2015 Budget | % of Total Expense |
| Ritual (includes salaries for Clergy, Clergy Coordinator, Musical Accompanists, Service Leaders and BBM Tutors) | $554,569 | 42.1% |
| Religious School (includes salaries for Director of Education, Education and Program Coordinator and Teachers) | $298,850 | 22.7% |
| Administration (includes salaries for Director of Temple Operations, Bookkeeper and Office Assistant) | $238,131 | 18.1% |
| House (includes salaries for Facilities Supervisor and Assistant Facilities Coordinator) | $194,800 | 14.8% |
| Special Programs (includes Tikkun Olam, Membership Committee, TBA Cares, Israel Committee and other programming) | $15,100 | 1.1% |
| Youth Group (includes salary for Youth Group Director) | $14,450 | 1.1% |
| Total Expenses | $1,315,900 |
Questions or Comments?
Have any questions or would like further information about how your contributions help us fulfill our mission? Just drop me a note at president@tba-ny.org!
