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Fair Assessments?
Dismissing allegations to the contrary, Sacred Heart - St. John Parish is a strong, vibrant parish community with approximately 1100 families that supports the parish by consistently raising over $500,000 each year to support the church. In addition, the parish also supports various charitable efforts throughout the community. At the current level of income, this parish is ranked in the top 15% of all the 215 parishes in the Diocese of Scranton. However, the Diocese has assessed this parish for this current year (2007 - 2008) a total of $315,793 for the School Subsidy Assessment ($232,144)and Other Diocesan Assessment ($83,649), or about 62% of its prior year income of $509,371. This means that for every $1 collected, $0.62 goes to the Diocese, and only $0.38 stays in the parish to meet its needs. In comparison, the majority of the parishes in the diocese are assessed between 18.5% to 33.5% of their income, which means those parishes are able to keep $0.66 to $0.81 out of every $1 collected to meet the needs of their church. |
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 School Subsidy Assessment
The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish has supported an elementary school for nearly 100 years. This has placed an enormous burden on the parish finances. Like other parishes in the diocese which have maintained their own elementary school, the Sacred Heart of Jesus - St. John Parish has spent a significant portion of its income (over 60% for the 2006 - 2007 fiscal year) to subsidize school expenses and support catholic education. In addition, the parish also had to fund all capital improvements to the school. To put this in perspective, the average cost of parish subsidies for catholic education throughout the 215 parishes in the dioceses was less than 25% of all parish income.
When the diocese announced in the beginning of 2007 that as part of the reorganization of the diocesan catholic school system, the Sacred Heart Slovak School would be closed, and that the school subsidy assessments would be spread equally across all parishes, many parishioners anticipated a significant reduction in the Sacred Heart of Jesus - St. John parish school subsidy assessment. Later that year when the pastor announced that the assessment had only been reduced by $50,000, (from $282,144 in the 2005 - 2006 base year to $232,144 for the current 2007 - 2008 fiscal year) parishioners were shocked.
A careful and detailed analysis of the data published in June 28, 2007 edition of The Catholic Light reveals many disturbing facts regarding the calculation of the school subsidy assessment throughout the diocese. Details of the analysis are provided in the letters and tables listed on the left. However, the following table clearly illustrates the enormity of the inequity and unfairness in the current assessments.
| PARISH |
2005-2006 INCOME BASE |
2007-2008 ASSESSMENT |
PERCENTAGE OF INCOME BASE |
| Sacred Heart-St. John (Wilkes-Barre) |
$517,323 |
$232,144 |
44.87% |
| Gate of Heaven (Dallas) |
$517,400 |
$177,070 |
34.22% |
| St. Peter's Cathedral (Scranton) |
$517,721 |
$ 87,382 |
16.88% |
| Assessment Without Cap |
$517,313 |
$129,331 |
25.00% |
| St. Luke's (Stroudsburg) |
$934,430 |
$152,226 |
16.29% |
As can be seen, three parishes have virtually identical incomes, but vastly different assessments. Furthermore, the parish with the fourth highest income in the diocese (St. Luke in Stroudsburg) has the lowest assessment rate. Sacred Heart of Jesus - St. John Parish has the highest assessment rate in the diocese, and pays the highest variance between the actual assessment and the standard 25% assessment ($102,813) of any parish in the diocese.
Affect on Parish Financial Position
The following data is from the financial statement for the year ending June 30, 2007 issued by the pastor:
| Total Income |
$509,371 |
| School Subsidy Expense |
$315,218 |
| Net Loss |
($92,080) |
The school subsidy assessment for 2007 - 2008 has been set at $232,144, or $83,074 less than the assessment in 2006 - 2007.
| Actual School Subsidy Expense |
2006 - 2007 Fiscal Year |
$315,218.46 |
| School Subsidy Assessment |
2007 - 2008 Fiscal Year |
232,143.96 |
| Actual Reduction in Assessment |
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$ 83,074.50 |
Had this assessment been in place in 2006 - 2007, the net loss would have been reduced to ($9,005).
| NET LOSS 2006 - 2007 |
($92,079.63) |
| 2007-2008 Reduction in School Assessment |
83,074.50 |
| HYPOTHETICAL LOSS 2006 - 2007 |
($9,005.13) |
As previously noted, the current assessment exceeds the typical parish assessment at the normal 25% assessment rate without a cap on the change in assessment by $102,813.
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2005-2006 INCOME BASE |
ASSESSMENT RATE |
SCHOOL SUBSIDY ASSESSMENT |
| Sacred Heart-St. John per Diocese |
$517,323 |
44.87% |
$232,144 |
| Typical Parish without $50,000 Cap |
517,323 |
25% |
129,331 |
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$102,813 |
When this cap is removed, the net loss will become a projected income of $93,808.
| NET LOSS IN 2006 - 2007 |
($92,079.63) |
| Present Reduction in 2007 - 2008 School Assessment |
83,074.50 |
| Elimination of Overcharge Due to $50,000 Cap |
102,813.00 |
| PROJECTED INCOME WITH FAIR ASSESSMENT |
$ 93,807.87 |
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