2011 E-Mail Regarding St Mary's Treasurer

Someone asked me a question the other day about my brief term as St Mary's "probationary acting interim assistant treasurer" or whatever it was during October and November 2011. I sent him a copy of the e-mail I sent to John Cothran, a vestry member who was terming out in early 2012, who had been designated the new treasurer in the attempted putsch of December 11, 2012. Mr Cothran's most extensive appearance here was during a somewhat disturbing courtroom outburst last February.

From: John Bruce
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 7:42 PM
To: John Cothran
Subject: St Mary's Treasurer Turnover

John, thanks for the phone message, I hope we can get together to discuss additional questions you may have. However, my wife, a retired attorney, advises me that the assistance I can provide is limited, not only because she sees the potential for litigation regarding the Rector’s status, but also since I’m no longer an officer or employee of St Mary’s, and I may not be covered by the parish’s insurance for errors and omissions. I’ll be forwarding any additional correspondence that needs your attention, and I can tell you over the phone the physical locations of files and other items in the office. However, it would not be ethical for me to give you any passwords. I’ve given you the location of the password steno book, and Keith has the Windows password. I would advise you to change this password immediately once you sign on for the first time. It would not be appropriate for me to come into St Mary’s or the Treasurer’s office, since I’ve been advised that the atmosphere there is toxic, and I should not let myself be pulled into any controversy.

As I told the vestry on Sunday, I’d been putting in several days a week in the Treasurer’s office, and I’d expected to continue doing that until I was unexpectedly replaced. The turnover list here reflects items that had been on my plate to get done on that kind of a continued schedule. I certainly hope you’ll be available to put in the necessary time to come up to speed and complete these matters, especially since we’ve already lost a whole week that could have been spent on doing these items.

End of Year and January 2012 Turnover

Receive pledge envelopes (already ordered and paid for from American Church) and make sure pledgers get them by the first Sunday in January. Record pledges in Quickbooks.

Check Treasurer’s in-box in parish office at least once a week, pick up bills, and make sure they are paid. File paid invoices in vendor folders.

Total any payments made to St Mary of the Angels but marked Rector’s Discretionary Fund since mid-November. Write check to Rector’s Discretionary Fund for this total and give to Fr Kelley.

You need to research exactly how [redacted], the cleaner, is paid – whether by week or by hour. Then be sure she’s paid the correct amount on the fourth Sunday in December (12/25).

Payroll is due the fourth Sunday in December (12.25). Be sure all clergy are paid the correct stipends, housing allowance, utility allowance, and mileage. Others to be paid are [redacted].

You will need to research what tax documents – state, federal, Social Security, and anything else – are due by the end of the year and send them in. Also you will need to calculate withholding and pay that to the appropriate agencies. [emphasis mine]

You will need to complete the parish budget by the January vestry meeting so it can be approved by them and submitted to the parish annual meeting.

You will need to complete the payroll documents Meridian Payroll needs to start the payroll service on February 1. I’m forwarding you an e-mail from them on this. You’ll also need to prepare the resolution for the parish annual meeting recommending the parish go with their service.

You will need to learn how to enter plate and pledge payments from Sunday counting into Quickbooks to keep this up to date. I can’t help here, since I’m no longer Treasurer, and this is confidential information I’m no longer entitled to see.

I’ve started printing checks directly from Quickbooks. You’ll need to figure out how to do this; unfortunately, I’ve been advised not to come into the office, or I’d sit with you and go over it..

The Bylaws say that each January and July, the Treasurer must provide the Rector with a list of parish members in good standing. This has not been done recently, and the most current list has some deceased people on it.

You will need to follow up with [redacted]. I believe this bill is already overdue. You may be able to find the bill online and pay it that way. I wasn’t able to research this before I was replaced. [emphasis mine]

Likewise, see if you can get the 2011 insurance files that Pat [Myers AKA Omeirs] has removed from the Treasurer’s office back. He took them to research our payments and policies, but I’m not aware that he did anything worthwhile once he took them.

The wardens actually caught me unawares when I started in this job, and they did make off with some important files (and then forgot about them) before I recognized that I should not allow this. You need to be vigilant about not letting them take files out of the office without making copies.

I can probably talk you through Sunday count procedures over the phone, but again, I can’t help you in person, because this is confidential information that I’m no longer entitled to see. [redacted]

Before there’s any sort of audit, you’ll need to research why there’s about $10-20,000 more in the BofA checking account than Quickbooks thinks there is, and work out a way to correct it.

You’ll need to determine how much we finally pay on the renovations (and separately, on the spire) over and above the November deposit, and then determine how much we can withdraw from the Citibank renovation fund to repay the general fund. The spire fund is accounted for separately in Quickbooks, but you’ll need to total that for the January Treasurer’s report to the vestry.

You’ll need to determine what our exact financial obligations are to the Ordinariate and determine how best to budget for them. Among other things, I don’t know if we’ll have to pay the Catholic priest who’ll supervise us while Frs Kelley, Bartus, and [redacted] are re-ordained. I also don’t know if we’ll be obligated for tithes or dues to the Ordinariate, how much they’ll be, and how they’ll be budgeted.

I never met with Mr Cothran in person, and every indication we have is that neither he nor anyone else connected with the dissident group acted on these recommendations in any serious way. In particular, they were clearly on notice that there were outstanding tax issues that they did nothing to resolve prior to the IRS final notice in March 2012.

I'll have more to say about what this e-mail indicates