St. Mary of the Mount Church & St. Adalbert Church
DEBT AND DEFICIT SPENDING AT PRINCE OF PEACE PARISH
Where did the current debt of over one million dollars come from? Simply put, over the past few years there has been greater expense then income. Because of the cost of running and maintaining buildings, as well as paying staff salaries and other ministry expenses, and a decrease in parishioners, offertory and fundraising income, the parish has not been able to pay its Parish Share Program assessment nor insurance and benefits for over the last three years! The parish had to take out loans from the diocese to cover these expenses. The parish has been in deficit spending for the last several years, and this has added up!
What is being done to address the Debt? A Special Debt Relief Collection has begun. We received permission from the Diocese to take up a Special Debt Reduction and Capital Improvement Collection. This is the second collection we are taking up at all masses on the last weekend of every month, as well as anytime that someone uses one of the blue envelopes which can be found in the church pews, or the “Debt Reduction” envelope included in your envelope packets, and puts it in the collection basket. This collection is exempt from any diocesan assessment, which mean 100% goes to pay off the debt, and if we pay off the debt, then 100% goes into an account for capital improvements. (Normal collections are assessed for the diocesan Parish Share Program and Elementary School Subsidy, for a total of 27.6% that goes to the Diocese).
We have applied Church Alive Funds and excess Cemetery Funds against the debt. For the Church Alive Campaign at Prince of Peace, the parish’s case statement was to use the parish portion of what was collected through the Church Alive Campaign to maintain St. Adalbert Church Building and to pay off the debt. $83,168.12 collected from the Church Alive Campaign has been applied to the debt. Also, recently The Catholic Parish Cemeteries Assoc. of the Diocese of Pittsburgh took over the day to day running of all parish cemeteries. The CPCA took what was need for the Perpetual Care of our six cemeteries, and the excess funds remaining in the cemetery perpetual care fund were given back to the parish (approximately $120,000.00). Seventy percent of this balance will be applied to the debt. The remaining thirty percent will be deposited in a Capital Account with the Diocese.
What is being done to address the Deficit spending? More import then paying off the debt, is to address the deficit spending, so we don’t keep adding to the debt! Here is what is currently being done to reduce deficit spending: