Proposed Constitutional Chages

Q and A regarding Ministerial Compensation

NOTICE OF ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
of
The Unitarian Society of Hartford

SUNDAY, MAY 23, 2010
After the 10:30 am worship service in Fellowship Hall

All members are requested to attend this important meeting

The agenda and accompanying information are below. Should you have any questions, please contact, Meredith Vasta, Secretary, Board of Directors USH at:
mlvasta (at) hotmail.com

Agenda

Welcome – Carolyn Cartland, President
Opening Words – Rev. Jamestone
State of the Unitarian Society of Hartford
    a. Report from the President – Carolyn Cartland
   b. Report from the Secretary – Meredith Vasta
   c. Report from the Treasurer- Martha Page
   d. Report from the Endowment Committee –Al Herzog
4. Proposed Changes to the Constitution – Carolyn Cartland

(Please review section “A” below before our meeting. The proposed changes to the Constitution are available on the USH website and in the church office.)

5. Congregational Vote on Proposed Changes to Constitution
6. Presentation of the New Slate of Board Members – Carolyn
Cartland

(Please review section “B” before our meeting)

7. Congregational Vote on New Slate of Board Members
8. Green Sanctuary Accreditation Vote – Bill Young and Bev Prager

(Please review section “C” before our meeting. This information is also available on the USH website [see reference on the home page under the picture of the Meeting House] and in the church office.)

9. Vote on Green Sanctuary Accreditation
9. Closing Words – Carolyn Cartland and Sue Kinney
10. Benediction – Rev. Jamestone

Section A
USH ANNUAL MEETING MAY 23, 2010 – PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

The Board of Directors recommends the following changes to the USH Constitution. Most of these changes have been in effect on a trial basis over the last year. In addition to those noted below, transitional wording from 2004 has been deleted:

Article VII Board of Directors Section 2-Elimination of Board Member-at-large position. The Board of Directors recommends the elimination of the Board member-at-large position. The three at-large positions, each aligned with a specific Council as created in the revised constitution in 2004, have become redundant with the Council Chair positions. The at-large position is removed from the activities, needs, and priorities of the Council and is not the optimal representative of the Council on the Board. Continuation of this role is not the best use of our leaders’ time and energy.

Article X Councils: Election of the four Council Chairs to the Board of Directors. The Board believes it is a more effective and efficient use of our leaders’ time and energy for the four Council Chairs of Administration, Community Within, Social Justice, and Spiritual Life to represent their Councils on the Board. This change will also move the Administration Council from the Treasurer’s area of responsibility and allow it to function as independently as the other Councils do.

Article VII Elections and Terms Section 3: Change the term of the Council Chairs to two years instead of three years as is currently specified in the constitution. This change will conform to the term limits of the other Board members.

Article X Councils Section 5 3) Clarify that the Stewardship sub-council resides in the Council on Administration.

Section “B”-Proposed Slate

Susan Kinney - President
Term: 07.01.2010 - 06.30.2011
Cedric Woods - President-Elect
Term: 07.01.2010 - 06.30.2011
Liz Garmise - Treasurer
Term: 07.01.2010 - 06.30.2012
Meredith Vasta - Secretary
Remainder of current term ending 06.30.2011
Joe Rubin - At Large ~ Administration
Term: 07.01.2010 - 06.30.2012
Don Reichler - At Large ~ Community Within
Term: 07.01.2010 - 06.30.2013
Bill Young - At Large ~ Social Justice
Remainder of current term ending 06.30.2012
Karl Peters - At Large ~ Spiritual Life
Remainder of current term ending 06.30.2011

Section “C”-Green Sanctuary Accreditation Vote

(Please contact Bev Prager, Mary Sherwin or Barbara Prine if you have any questions)

Two years ago we embarked on the process to become a Green Sanctuary. The Green Sanctuary Sub-Council conducted a year long assessment and came up with an action plan which was approved by the UUA. With the action plan almost concluded, including a board approved covenant which guides our practices at the
Meeting House to be environmentally conscious we are at the point at which we need the congregation to vote on applying for accreditation from the UUA to be a Green Sanctuary.

Becoming a Green Sanctuary means that we are pledging our commitment to create and sustain the Meeting House as well as programs and policies within it to consciously consider the environmental impact of all we do and promote the lightening of our footprint as an example of right living with the greater world and a reflection of our values.

Q and A regarding UU ministerial compensation
Rev BJ

1.     What type of pension plan does USH provide to the Minister? How much does USH contribute to it and what is the calculation formula?
2.     What types of insurance does USH provide the Minister and what are the benefits of each? How much of each is USH vs. Minister paid?
3.     What type of medical plan is provided and what services are covered? How much is paid by USH? What are the co-pays?

A UU clergy person negotiates a ‘total compensation pie’ at the time of hire, and is then free to divide the “total compensation pie”    to meet their unique and individual needs for housing, insurances, savings plan, and professionally associated purchases, in such a way as to take advantage of every tax rule afforded to clergy. One amount is paid by the congregation, and all costs for insurance, pension, professional expenses, and housing are paid by the minister out of that total:

·      INSURANCE: I pay for all of my insurance, from the total compensation pie amount which was negotiated at my hire, and buy or drop insurance according to my needs.   I dropped my life insurance this year at the advice of my financial planner, and elect to have long term care and disability insurances.   Because USH has a health insurance plan for employees, I am required to use that plan, and unlike other staff, I pay 100% of the premium.

·      PENSION: I am not required to contribute any of my compensation to a pension plan. I elect to make contribution to a UUA established plan and the contributions come from my ‘total compensation pie’ at my discretion. That is, I pay 100% of the contribution, unlike other staff. (For tax purposes, and so that I can contribute a maximum amount, we send part of the total labeled as a ‘congregational contribution’ and part of it as a ‘clergy contribution’)

·      PROFESSI0NAL EXPENSES-- Because I value continuing education, I spend as much money as I possibly can on books, periodicals, seminars, training events, online courses, professional guilds, etc—everything that the IRS allows a clergyperson to deduct for professional expenses….until the grandchildren come!
·      I consulted a Connecticut tax accountant and financial planner in deciding how much money to allocate to each category.

4. How do we decide how much to pay the minister? The UUA offers compensation guidelines as a suggestion. In the past, the ‘compensation guidelines’ suggested an amount for the ‘total compensation pie. They now suggest a portion of the total, the ‘salary/housing’ figure only, for ease of understanding—that is, most of our members are not self employed, as clergy are considered to be in this case; that is, most members receive a ‘salary compensation’ amount as ‘take home’ pay, BUT they ‘cost’ the organization more that that, around 1/3 more in general, because they receive ‘benefits’ such as insurance, pension, professional expenses, etc. So the UUA started suggesting a ‘salary/housing’ amount (instead of a total)which is around 2/3 of the total compensation suggested, so members could compare minister wages with their own more readily. Because a minister is considered to be self employed for this purpose, she/he is given the entire compensation pie (salary plus 1/3 more in benefits) to divide at their own discretion.   There is no requirement regarding how the clergy person divides the pie, except that they abide by tax laws regarding these things.

5. Why is the salary figure divided into ‘salary’ and ‘housing?’ Regarding ‘housing’, tax law allows a minister to pay only social security tax on amounts spent on making a home. This allowance is made for the military as well.

6.. How does the UUA choose an amount? The UUA determines a 'suggested salary/housing' amount, using the geographical location, and the numerical size of the congregation—that is, the number of members who the minister is considered to be serving as pastor. Here are the 2009 recommendations relevant to us:

Numerical membership Size Categories
Salary/housing $ Range divided
into Minimum-mid-maximum


Min

Mid

Max

Mid Sized I (150- 249) 67,000 87,100 107,200

Mid Sized II (250 -349 73,100 95,900 118,900

7. What size category is USH in? The number of members reported to UUA is now around 239. In addition, we currently have around 60 other people who are NOT reported to UUA because they do not met the required $250 pledge minimum for membership, though many consider themselves to be members. Of that number I have had direct pastoral care with 42 in the past year. There is another group of 'friends' not counted in the number reported to UUA, 10 of whom have received direct pastoral care within the last year. One could conclude that in addition to the 239 members, there are at least 52 more people who consider USH to be their church and BJ to be their minister ~ for some of whom rituals have been performed (without fee) as would be afforded any 'reported' member.

8. What would the UUA Total Compensation suggestion be, if the UUA salary/housing suggestions were considered to be 2/3 of the total, plus 1/3 more for benefits?
The following chart considers the salary/housing ranges from UUA to be 2/3 of the total compensation, and adds 1/3 more for benefits for a total compensation range:

Mid Sized I (150- 249)                              100,500     130,650    160,800
Mid Sized II (250 -349                               109,600     143,800    178,300

9.     Do UU clergy actually get paid that much money?
Clergy receive from their congregations the 'total compensation package' which is reflected in those numbers, which is the entire amount it 'costs' any organization to hire and retain staff. Like other 'employed' persons, clergy have a salary (and housing) amount as part of that total, for living and discretionary expenses. Like other 'self employed' persons, they must provide for themselves any "benefits and professional expenses" which normally are provided for 'employed' persons by the organization for which they work, an amount above and beyond their salary. It might help to look at those figures as if you were the owner of a business who is looking for their total cost in hiring someone.
With regard to the actual numbers above, some congregational 'businesses' can barely reach the minimum. Some are able to take into account the minister’s experience and education, and to move away from the minimum. I am in my 20th year as a UU minister, and have 4 graduate degrees.

10. What does USH pay Rev BJ?
Please see our USH budget for both my total compensation figure and the categories into which I have divided it, which I may change by writing a memo to the business manager. The figure lies between the minimum and the middle-range dollar numbers in the chart above, for both the mid sized 1 and the mid sized 2 membership number categories.

Let us know of any comments, errors and corrections - thanks (revised 05/04/10)