Dear Pack 130 Committee Member,
One or two of our Committee members has asked why the registration fee has increased and where the money goes – and I thought the answers might be interesting for the Committee to read.
Registration Costs
For a long number of years, the Pack registration fee was maintained at CHF 200. On account of our increased activities (i.e. to cover our costs) and then to put the pack on a better financial footing, we increased the fee to CHF 250 in 2006/7 and then again in 2008/2009. The reason we increased the registration fees first time was because we had to in order to cover our costs. This is because we are now doing more – we are paying more to the Boy Scouts of America (we have more adult leaders involved who we must pay subscription costs for), we are paying for our website server space which we did have before, we bought equipment (e.g. for the Pinewood Derby) and we need to maintain some expenses in this direction to keep up with providing a good platform as we are paying more for room rental for various events (Blue & Gold mainly), and we have an insurance premium to pay for (which we split with Troop 130). These are general costs, which themselves are increasing. However, we also needed a float for the Winter Weekend of CHF 2,000 to CHF 3,000 which needs to be paid a year in advance. In the past 2 or 3 years I have financed this from my personal account and then been reimbursed by the Pack as we collect the money in December but I believe it is only fair to the next committee to have a mechanism in place to support our activities, and that means raising the Registration fee in order to have that money available as free float. This accounts in large part for the increase from CHF 250 to CHF 300 which has taken place this year, which was agreed in a committee meeting at the end of last cubs year – May/June 2008. We also need a free float in order to make our purchases at the TAC shop to get all supplies for the new year ready in time for the end of August, ahead of the September registration, so we are able to supply the pack with the required equipment before we receive the registration fees. By putting the fees up in 2006/2007 we created the free float for the TAC shop which enabled us to order supplies in June 2008 for this year.
Expected Surplus
To finance the free cash flow float for the winter weekend (which we will need to pay in November 2008 to book Kandersteg for January 2010) it was necessary to raise the registration fee this year. The creation of these floats are essentially one off increases. But to be fair to everyone (rather than reduce the fee next year) I think we should then use the CHF 2,500 extra that we get next year to do something with – like put it towards improving the facilities we have. As a result of the fee increase this year, we should have a small surplus this year and a larger one next year – and we can decide as a committee where and how to spend this money. We have various choices – including returning it to parents, using it to pay for the Blue & Gold food and drink (instead of asking parents to pay at the time), paying it to the Friends of Scouting (we currently pay nothing towards the maintenance of the BSA in Europe other than our registration costs), or we could use it to upgrade our pinewood derby track, or pay it to our chosen charity etc. Once we know the size of the surplus, we can debate its use. It is my ambition to make the pack better resourced in general, and raising the fee this year and maintaining the fee increase at this level in the years to come would put us in a much better financial position. In the event that we have created enough of a surplus to run the free floats necessary to finance the Winter weekend and the TAC Shop expenses (which we have now done – although I admit that I had not seen that the first free float – the one we created to finance TAC is essentially reoccurring if we maintain the fee increase and do not increase our expenses pro rata), the committee might determine that it does not wish to upgrade the pack’s facilities with the remaining surplus (whatever amount that turns out to be) and therefore the Committee would no doubt decide to put the registration fees back to CHF 250 or whatever amount it determines it requires. This will be a decision for May/June next year when we see how it all pans out in terms of cash flow planning. For now, we are at the beginning of the process of transformation of our financial position. Whilst the BSA suggests that we should not have a cash holding at the end of the year, we are not discouraged from spending increased amounts of subscription fees on making our program a better experience for the boys. This is a question for the Committee to address when the financial position of the pack becomes clearer.
Uniform Costs
Pack 130 has always offered the books, caps, belts, badges, subscription of the Boy Scout magazine for those that want it and pinewood derby car kits as part of the registration cost. We have always asked the boys to buy their own shirts.
Where does the Registration fee money go?
We did not produce an income statement for last year’s accounts but the year before we had detailed accounts of our expenditures. I hope that we will be able to publish our accounts on the website this year so that our costs are more transparent. However, I think it is fair to say that in the past we spent approximately 75% of our registration fees with the BSA – either in registration costs (USD 46 per boy, and USD 10 per registered adult plus a few other related expenses), or in TAC shop purchases – belts, badges, books, car kits etc. We also returned 20% of the registration fee to the dens last year (CHF 50 per boy), and finally we used the remaining 5% of our income to pay our various administrative expenses (bank charges were probably CHF 200 last year for example), and the costs incurred for hosting the Blue & Gold (this amounted to CHF 672 the year before last and I have no idea how much we spent this year but we had nothing left in the account after all expenses were reimbursed), and to pay for prizes, and a few gifts for leaving committee members etc.
Can we offer a rebate to low income families?
I have asked for official clarification of the BSA policy on this. Generally, the BSA belief in self-financing – which means that they encourage each of the boys to take responsibility for paying their den dues themselves. In practice, of course, how many of us actually insist our children pay for themselves – especially the registration fees? Nevertheless, that is what the Boy Scouts of America wish to encourage. In other words, they want boys to be resourceful – which means that if they don’t have money they should learn to find it – by selling popcorn or raking leaves or cleaning cars or finding other jobs that need doing and offering to do them. Does that sound harsh? Possibly. However, I think it sounds like a good idea – and those boys that are encouraged to do this should find themselves richer for it, and probably cubs will be a more rewarding experience for them. That is my view but I am waiting to hear from BSA on this issue, and we can also discuss it at the next committee meeting if the Committee feels differently.
Do we offer a Sibling Discount?
No – the BSA does not offer a discount to us, and as our costs are 95% related to BSA expenses, we would run at a loss if we did. The objective is not to run at a loss, but to support our program and cover our expenses in doing so.
A question you did not ask: Where is the money not spent?
The Committee is a voluntary organisation – no one gets paid for their service, but the adult registration fees are paid for by the Pack. As you know, we do spend some money on flowers and small gifts (maximum CHF 50) to thank people for their time on the committee at the time of their leaving, or for doing an exceptional job of organising events such as the Blue & Gold. At the end of the summer, we held a small drinks reception at La Chat. This was financed by a personal donation and Pack 130’s funds were not used. The Pack’s funds are used solely for the general good of the entire pack community and are not spent on any sub group of people or events where anyone is excluded.
In Summary, the following table provides an approximate estimate of the source and uses of income per boy in 2008/2009:
Registration Income: CHF 300
Expenses
Registration Fees to BSA CHF 70
TAC Shop/other BSA Expenses CHF 60
CHF 50 Rebates to Dens CHF 50
Blue & Gold expenses CHF 20
Kandersteg Float CHF 50
General Administrative CHF 20
Expected 2009 Surplus CHF 30
As mentioned, we are in a new phase of financing the pack’s activities, combined with a renewed focus on the accurate accounting of our expenses which should yield some more accurate information on what exactly our costs are and what else we might want to do. In the meantime I hope that this explanation sheds some light on the financing of Pack 130.
Kind regards. Adam, Pack 130 Committee Chairman.
The attached documents detail the committee meetings as well as some other files you may find useful.
To download this click here
26th February Committee meeting minutes
21st November Committee Meeting Agenda
30 October Committe Meeting Agenda
26th September Committee meeting Agenda
5th September Committe meeting minutes
5th September Committee meeting Agenda
5th September Committee meeting Agenda
6th June Committee Meeting Agenda
April 25th committee meeting minutes
March 7th committee meeting minutes
All Documentation on the blue and Gold dinner, setup, attendees, etc.
January 17th committee meeting minutes
November 15th committee meeting minutes
Nove mber 15th Committee Meeting Agenda
Committee meeting minutes 1st Nov 2006
Proposed committee meeting agenda for 1st November 2006
Transatlantic Council October 2006 Newsletter
Committee meeting minutes from the 27th September
Committe meeting minutes from the 27th Sept UBS annexe
Com mittee meeting Agenda for the 27th September
Committee meeting Minutes 7th June 2006
Committee meeting Agenda 6th September
Certificates - with these I just listed the belt loops, pins, pack and den patches and other awards they had received during the year
Bear
admin
jmoore