> Administration and Finance LATEST NEWS
< Back to ADMINISTRATION and FINANCE homepage
To SUBSCRIBE to this page, please click the RSS feed button at the top right-hand side of this page.
- End-of-year apportionment reports (from TNUMConnects 1/18/12)
- W-2 forms for pastors and employees (from TNUMConnects 1/18/12)
- Annual Conference Partnership Team begins meetings (from TNUMConnects 1/4/12)
- 2012 tax update from General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (from TNUMConnects 11/30/11)
- Resources for Finance Committee (from GBOD)
- Claiming a tax refund on clergy health plan payments (from TNUMConnects 5/11/11)
End-of-year apportionment reports (from TNUMConnects 1/18/12)
December 2011 was the largest month for remittance receipts in the history of the Tennessee Conference! Perhaps it deserves a mention with our 2012 theme, Extravagant Generosity!Attached are Remittance Reports for 2011, through the close of the books. These are subject to audit and adjustment, but at this moment, I do not expect any changes. We finished 2011 ahead of 2010 in dollars, but behind in percentages collected. The 2011 budget was about 3.57% ($495,000) larger than the 2010 budget. In December we received 19.78% of the total collections for the year. I rejoiced to receive those funds, even though it means the Conference is being forced to carry more churches’ cash flow.
| MONTH | YTD | ||
| December | $ remitted | % of total | |
| 2007: | $2,285,327 | $12,522,542 | 89.16% |
| 2008: | $2,260,223 | $12,403,151 | 85.66% |
| 2009: | $2,794,329 | $12,599,354 | 83.98% |
| 2010: | $2,460,592 | $12,143,158 | 83.34% |
| 2011: | $2,981,666 | $12,380,937 | 82.13% |
Also attached is a church listing, by district:
| Clarksville: | 1,675,143 | 92% |
| Columbia: | 1,366,473 | 84% |
| Cookeville: | 1,267,406 | 74% |
| Cumberland: | 1,850,441 | 82% |
| Murfreesboro: | 1,778,005 | 79% |
| Nashville: | 3,612,455 | 77% |
| Pulaski: | 831,011 | 95% |
Jim Allen
Conference Treasurer
[Back to Top] [Print] [Direct Link] [Share This]
W-2 forms for pastors and employees (from TNUMConnects 1/18/12)
All United Methodist churches must give their pastor(s) and employees their W-2 forms on or before January 31, 2012.The IRS operates a centralized call site to answer questions about reporting information on W-2, W-3, 1099, or 1096 forms. If you have any questions about completing these forms, call the IRS at 866.455.7438, Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm est.
[Back to Top] [Print] [Direct Link] [Share This]
Annual Conference Partnership Team begins meetings (from TNUMConnects 1/4/12)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The General Council on Finance and Administration, through its office of Philanthropic Services, is involved in developing strategies to assist annual conferences in identifying revenue generating opportunities designed to increase funds for ministry.
Sharon Clapp, Director of the Office of Philanthropic Services, is one of the project coordinators for the GCFA Annual Conference Partnership Initiative. Rev. Clapp and the team recently travelled to the Upper New York, Eastern Pennsylvania, and Tennessee Annual Conferences to host a financial summit. The team members are Moses Kumar, GCFA General Secretary; Gilbert Hanke, United Methodist Men General Secretary; Rev. Dr. Stephen Hundley, Virginia Annual Conference District Superintendent; Rev. Dr. Ken Sloane, Director of Stewardship and Leadership Ministries of the General Board of Discipleship; Scott Brewer, Assistant General Secretary for Connectional Relations for GCFA; and Rev. Brian Bakeman, Oklahoma Conference Treasurer.
Prior to the November event, Bishop Peggy Johnson of the Philadelphia Episcopal area issued a call to prayer from the
members of the Eastern Pennsylvania conference. In her appeal to the conference, she stated the purpose of the conference is to “aid the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference to do a better job in telling the story of the United Methodist ministry, improving our stewardship and brainstorming ways to raise funds…This is an example of our general Church apportionment money working for us so that we can do a better job at our mission and ministry.” Lay and clergy leaders of the annual conference were invited to the meeting.
In Upper New York, Sherri Mackey, Treasurer and Director of Administrative Services commented “We need to be reminded that we exist to be in service to each other. The GCFA/Upper New York partnership is a very exciting initiative. The time together demonstrated in very real terms the power and benefit of our connectional system.” Bishop Marcus Matthews and the entire Cabinet, together with key lay 
leaders, participated in the conference. Brewer commented that “every engagement is designed and implemented to fit the unique goals and needs of the annual conference. This effort has been a real blessing for our team in helping us listen to the hopes and dreams of annual conference leaders and gain a better understanding of the issues they deal with. Building those connections have been very valuable and moving for GCFA.”
Additional forums are scheduled after the first of the year. For more information on the Annual Conference Initiative and programs, contact Rev. Sharon Clapp at GCFA, sclapp@gcfa.org, 615.369.2383 or Scott Brewer, sbrewer@gcfa.org, 615.369.2381.
The General Council on Finance and Administration coordinates and administers finances and safeguards the legal interests and rights of The United Methodist Church. www.gcfa.org
This article was featured in the TN Conference weekly eBlast TNUMConnects. FREE to your INBOX weekly!Click the button to subscribe now!
[Back to Top] [Print] [Direct Link] [Share This]
2012 tax update from General Board of Pension and Health Benefits (from TNUMConnects 11/30/11)
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) establishes limits for retirement plan contributions each year. The following are the limits for 2012.Code Section 402(g) Limits for voluntary contributions to UMPIP
• Participant before-tax contributions are limited to $17,000 (increased from $16,500 in 2011).
• Participants with 15 or more years of service with a “qualified organization” may be eligible to contribute up to an additional $3,000 per year, subject to a $15,000 lifetime limit and other rules. Qualified organizations include churches and tax-exempt organizations controlled by or associated with a church. Participants can contact the General Board for help determining if they are eligible to make these additional contributions.
• Participants who will be age 50 or older by December 31, 2012 may make “catch-up contributions” of up to an additional $5,500 in 2012.
• Participants who have 15 or more years of service with a qualified organization and are age 50 or older must meet the “15 years of service” limit for the year—provided they have not reached the $15,000 lifetime limit—before they are eligible to make catch-up contributions.
Code Section 415(c) Limit on all retirement contributions
Total annual before-tax and after-tax participant contributions (such as UMPIP) plus plan sponsor contributions to all retirement plans cannot exceed the lesser of a participant’s compensation or $50,000 in 2012. Housing is excluded from “compensation” for this purpose. This limit of $50,000 includes the conference contribution to clergy CRSP of approximately $7800.
This article was featured in the TN Conference weekly eBlast TNUMConnects. FREE to your INBOX weekly!Click the button to subscribe now!
[Back to Top] [Print] [Direct Link] [Share This]
Resources for Finance Committee (from GBOD)
The materials below are provided by GBOD. To see the original article in its entirety on their website, please CLICK HERE.
The GBOD stewardship area has offertory prayers, budgeting help, information for personal stewardship and more. There are links to job descriptions for financial secretary, treasurer, and finance committee.
• Budgeting for discipleship: an article and discussion for finance committee
[Back to Top] [Print] [Direct Link] [Share This]
Claiming a tax refund on clergy health plan payments (from TNUMConnects 5/11/11)
Under the new Health Care law, churches can file for a refund of up to 25% of what they paid in 2010 for health insurance for their employees, which includes the amount the church remitted to the Conference Treasurer for the Clergy Health Plan apportionment line for 2010. This document provides simplified directions tailored to United Methodist Churches in the Tennessee Conference for filing IRS Forms 8941 and 990-T. Note: These forms should be filed by May 15, 2011, although there does not seem to be any penalty for filing late (within reason).
Churches that qualify for the 2010 refund (1) had a full-time appointed clergy who participated in the Conference's Clergy Health Plan in 2010; (2) remitted some payroll taxes which are the basis for the refund; and (3) did not have more than 25 full time equivalent employees.
> DOWNLOAD directions for claiming tax refund
[Back to Top] [Print] [Direct Link] [Share This]