Money Issues

[IM_Kathy]

wow - wish I had that issue with our troop or my girl scout unit.

 

back when my son was in cubs we only charged a few for 4 of our monthly pack meetings...

 

1) our lock-in where dinner was served and also had to pay for renting room

2) blue and gold when we stopped having it potluck style and went with catered we had to pay for the meal, but we set the schedule to inform families when the meal was, when skits would start, and when awards would start so that those that didn't want to pay for the meal could just come after that.

3) our family campout where we had to pay for food and for campground

4) our pool party... which is actually the one event we usually lost money on, but it was covered by our funraising.

 

all our other events were 100% free. paid for by the boys fundraising efforts.

 

the only time we had a large surplus of money was when we were saving up for a new PWD track.

[Pack212Scouter]

I noticed that it was said that this was post Popcorn sales. I offer the following possible explanations, although none may apply...

 

Has the Pack yet paid Council what was owed to them from popcorn? if not, this could account for six or seven thousand dollars of it.

 

Does the pack use this for operating expenses for through the next popcorn sale? It may be a pay as you go pack, but some costs may be offset to reduce the cost to Scout families. (i.e an event costs $20 per person, but you only charge $10 for the Scout).

 

Does the Pack have to pay for it's meeting place? I know that Schools here started charging ridiculous fees for Packs to use the school facilities here. On the order of 100-300 dollars per night.

 

Has the Pack recently been in financial difficulty. If that is the case, there may be more of a tendency towards hording funds right now.

 

Generally a I think that a Pack should try to carry enough in it's funds to provide for replacement of major equipment about every 5-10 years (PWD track, etc) and have in reserve what the Pack might need in case of an emergency or if fundraising flopped one year.

 

Additionally, they should be carrying into a year enought to cover awards, recharter, boys life (if they do), scholarships and any other annual expenses (less what the CO provides).

[Roadkill Patrol]

Replying to Pack121Scouter.

 

According to the treasurer report, popcorn had already been paid to the council. There were no outstanding debts at the time of this last report.

 

As much as I could tell, the pack has not reduced the amount of any outings by paying a portion of it. This is what I would like to see happend in the future.

 

The pack pays for advancements and kicks in for some pack level potlucks and crafts throughout the year until the next popcorn sale. Dues offset some of this spending.

 

The pack does not have to pay for the meeting place.

 

I haven't seen the pack in financial trouble in the past few years as far as I could tell.

[Roadkill Patrol]

Reading IM Kathy's statement:

 

"all our other events were 100% free. paid for by the boys fundraising efforts."

 

This hit the nail on the head in my thinking of the pack's fund. I am not looking for a handout or demanding a subsidy. If the boys are raising the packs' funds mostly through their efforts in popcorn sales, why shouldn't they benefit from it more? I am not truly complaining about the raise in dues, just the fact that they pack is not spending more on the boys who bring it in.

 

Liken this to your reaction to the following scenerio (regardless if real or not):

 

Since our government maintains a deficit, people understand that taxes need to be raised in order to fund the government. But waht if the government was in a state of surplus, would you still be ok with the government raising taxes? Or would you be outraged that the government was raising taxes when they really didn't need the money?

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Roadkill Patrol:

 

Join us on the trail. Become a Scouter. Then, you have some degree of voice.

 

You have not told us what your Chartered Partner's guidance to the Pack on fiscal matters is: There may be a standing instruction to maintain a large general fund. You won't know if you don't ask.

 

If you have real concerns, the best two people to talk to are the Committee Chair and the Chartered Organization Representative. This conversation is best done offline, over a friendly cup of coffee.

 

Overall, I'd re-read Beavah's post to you... several times.

[Roadkill Patrol]

I am a Scouter on the troop level, have been for a year and a half since my first son joined Boy Scouts, and my second joined Cubs. I decided on the troop level since the pack already had enough Scouters in it.

 

I asked this weekend about the Committee Chair and Chartered Rep, since neither were at the meeting I went to. Come to find out, the Chair has not been at a meeting for 6 months and that no one from the Charter has ever shown up. Come to find out the Charter Rep is 80 years old and she is currently in a retirement home. Guess it's time to find new people at the top level.

[Lisabob]

How in the heck is the pack holding committee meetings with no chair for the last 6 months? Who is steering this ship? Literally speaking - who runs the committee meetings?

 

The COR - well, there are many units who have a COR in name only. But who signs the paperwork when the COR's signature is needed?

 

I think you have legit questions about the finances to start with (though there may be good reasons why the pack has such a cushion - as others have suggested, there are all sorts of possible explanations). But your most recent post really makes me wonder!

 

 

 

[Roadkill Patrol]

The meeting I was at was kept on task by the secretary and the agenda and the cubmaster kind of directed things along.

 

I don't know about the signature issue. I will have to find that out.

[Roadkill Patrol]

I made a couple of calls and found out about the COR signature. Apparently, the person who has power of attorney for the COR has been signing the documents. They are working on getting someone else from the CO to be the rep.

[Pack212Scouter]

I'd like to throw one other possibility out there. Our Pack had a highly above average popcorn sale this year, so our account reflects a higher than normal ballance. We are actually using little of this to keep dues at the same level as last year. That said, we aren't budgeting assuming an equally good year this coming year. As has been said, there are plenty of reasons that they may be carrying this ballance. This doesn't mean that any of them apply though.