League Faces Financial Crisis
SCHEDULES BUDGET MEETING TO SEEK SOLUTION
February 9, at 10:00 a.m.
All League members welcome. Bring a brown bag and stay for lunch.
Opal Sloane, chairwoman of the Budget Committee now working on Honolulu League's 1983-84 budget, announced that there is too big a negative difference between the tentative budget and the anticipated income. Marian Heidel, Honolulu League treasurer, added. that this fiscal year, Honolulu has dipped heavily into its savings, and that we can no longer rely on this source to make up any deficits in the future until we build it up.
Adding to our problems, Ed Fund treasurer, Laura Goo, has indicated that the Ed Fund is operating at a deficit, and that there is need to reconsider our arrangement for sharing office costs.
Opal's announcement of this special meeting on "The State of the Budget" reads:
"The Budget Committee is faced with the hard reality that our savings have been exhausted. No longer can our expenses exceed our income. The bottom line is that we can-not prepare a budget in the old business-as-usual style.
To give you a rough idea of the numbers involved --- if we were to raise dues $5.00, if we cut expenses here and there, if we had another fund-raiser (such as the wine-tasting scheduled next month to raise money for the current year,) if member and corporate donations remained at the same level as this year, --- if we did all these things, we would still need the continued support of Ed Fund as in the past, earn $4,000 from vote counts, and still be $1200 short.
The amount Ed Fund can contribute toward office expenses is uncertain at this point, and vote count earnings vary from year to year. You cannot build a budget on uncertain income unless you have a cushion of savings to absorb any deficits. We do have approximately $2,000 in our savings account, but that is the minimum needed to support any cash
flow problems that may arise. (Because our income comes in an unsteady flow throughout
the year, we need the $2,000 to borrow from to fill the gap between income and expenses in certain months.)
WHAT'S TO BE DONE? We could change our whole modus operandi to cut expenses. We could launch a grand new income-generating scheme. There must be other things we can do, but the problem is too serious for the Budget Committee alone to handle. Please come to this very important meeting at which time we will explore the problem, for it may very well determine League's future. We need bright, innovative ideas on cutting expenditures without losing effectiveness, or finding new sources of income. Come prepared for a lively, open discussion. TOGETHER, WE MUST FIND SOME SOLUTION TO OUR FINANCIAL WOES.
If you can't make it to the meeting but have some concerns or suggestions, please phone them in to the League office.
Opal Sloane
Chair, Budget Committee
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January 1983
March 1983
