Policy-makers to consider revised budget proposal

Southwest Texas Conference policy-makers are to consider a slightly higher 2005 budget proposal next week in Corpus Christi than they first thought.
The Council on Finance and Administration is submitting a revised budget to the June 2-5 Southwest Texas Annual Conference session. That gathering meets at the Bayfront Plaza Convention Center.
The new bottom line is $8.3 million, a 4.12 percent increase from the 2004 budget. That compares to $8.2 million in the original 2005 budget proposal printed in the Pre-Conference Report mailed last month. The original figure was a 2.64 percent increase over the 2004 budget.
The revision reflects apportionment figures based on the 2005 denominational budget approved by the April 27-May 7 General Conference in Pittsburgh.
The updated fiscal plan includes $118,298 more in total apportionments than were predicted in the earlier budgeting process.
The Southwest Texas Conference fiscal agency notes that the overall proposed increase for 2005 is still relatively small. The primary reason is that the Board of Pensions and Health Benefits has sought no apportionment increase for next year.
Concern about spiraling clergy healthcare costs had prompted the finance council to freeze program budgets for 2004. That move helped offset rising medical insurance fees.