Bishops,
Attached you’ll find a DRAFT of the announcement about changes to our stake’s 2017 Summer Camp Funding Policy.
We are sending you this document for your review and feedback before we ask that you distribute the final approved version to all parents with children in your ward.
Fortunately, the change in policy does not reflect a sizable increase over 2016 in the total stake subsidy. It’s just more equitable way to follow the guidance in the handbook to use church funds to lighten the financial burden on families, in this case to minimize the high cost of summer camps.
You’ll notice that the new policy raises the family contribution for boys attending the expensive Boy Scout Camp. We’re not against Scout camp, but we cannot continue to subsidize so heavily a camp that appears to increase its registration fee by 10% or more every year.
While the policy raises the family contribution from $100 to $150, we do not feel it is significant enough to allow youth leaders to conduct fundraising. We feel parents can still help their children learn to earn enough to meet the $150 portion of the registration fee. Hence the importance that you to notify parents far in advance.
Understandably some of you will wonder why we continue to subsidize summer camps at all when we’re having to cut stake and ward budgets—announced last week--due to the decrease in budget allocations from SLC?
While the day may come that we must eliminate or reduce the summer camp subsidies, our feeling is that lightening the financial burden on families is one of the most effective use of these sacred funds….funds that originated with these same members in the form of tithes.
Our summer camp subsidies are a great benefit to the family’s budget and also we hope the subsidies encourage families to send their youth and children to these spiritually beneficial summer camps. We feel strongly this is a very wise use of the generous allocations received each quarter from the Church.
We also feel, as we have continually seen almost every ward (and the stake, for that matter) carry over more than $1,000 in unused budget funds each year, that there is more we can all do to tighten our belts and refine our budgeting processes before we start eliminating or reducing camp subsidy funds that directly bless the family budget.
Thank you for giving this your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you…prior to the Bishop’s Training tomorrow.
Thank you,
The Stake Presidency
By the way, we will no longer require you to receive the family contribution before receiving the reimbursement funds from the stake. Please submit a list immediately after your youth complete each summer camp and we’ll send you a reimbursement check as quickly as possible. As most of you know, by now, if you do not start working with families to submit their family contribution(s) early in the year, it can create a major cash flow problem for you by spring. Please help parents understand the importance of teaching their children how to earn money and to submit their family contribution(s) on time.
Remember, all summer camps are supported by the family contributions and stake funds. NO ward funds are used to support summer camps. However, the cash flow needed to pay for summer camp registration fees, often required in the spring, is the responsibility of the ward. So you have a sizable amount of money that comes in and goes out through your “Other” account. It’s very important that you work with the families and help them to pay on time or you will run the risk of falling short of the money you need to pay the registrations, which will later be reimbursed by the stake.
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