DALLAS (ABP) -- For the second consecutive year, the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board approved a budget proposal reduced from the previous year.

Messengers to the BGCT annual meeting, scheduled for Nov. 16-17 in Houston, will consider a $44,029,505 budget for 2010. The total budget calls for $38,865,000 from Texas Baptist cooperative giving and $2,135,000 from investment income, with the balance in revenue provided by conference and booth fees, funds from the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board, product sales and other sources.

The proposed budget -- a 9.8 percent decrease -- includes no cost-of-living increases for BGCT staff and drops funding for positions currently open. One position, related to women in ministry, in the BGCT's Center for Effective Leadership has been eliminated.

Developing a 'realistic' budget

“As we went into this process, we wanted a realistic, pretty conservative budget,” BGCT Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Jill Larsen said.

All parties involved in developing the budget proposal wanted to avoid creating a budget that would require adjustment later, and they wanted to minimize staff reductions, she said. Also, since the amounts BGCT-affiliated institutions receive from the Cooperative Program are based on a percentage of receipts, budget planners wanted to provide a realistic projection of anticipated income.

Over the past 16 months, the budget has been reduced 20 percent, Larsen noted. The total number of BGCT employees -- including part-time staff and Baptist Student Ministry personnel -- has been cut from 406 in 2006 to 272 in 2009.

The recommended budget also cuts staffs’ non-matched employer-provided retirement contribution from 10 percent of salary to 5 percent, resulting in a savings of about $630,000. It leaves in place the matching-fund benefit whereby the BGCT matches an employee’s contribution of 1 percent of salary for every three years of service, up to 5 percent.

The board also authorized in 2010 the use of up to 1 percent of investment earnings from endowment accounts -- beyond the amount normally distributed by the Baptist Foundation of Texas -- up to $470,000. Of that total, $235,000 was included in the recommended budget.

The additional 1 percent added to the foundation’s distribution would bring the total draw to 5.5 percent, still below the 7 percent allowed by the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act of 2007, Larsen noted.

Ed Jackson from First Baptist Church in Garland reminded his fellow board members that neither they nor messengers to the BGCT annual meeting had the final authority over the budget.

“Our churches have the final vote. And in effect, our churches have voted down the last two budgets,” he said. He noted about 2,000 churches affiliated with the BGCT gave nothing through the Cooperative Program.

Larsen reported as of July 31, Texas Cooperative Program receipts were at 94.75 percent compared to the same period in 2008 and were at 88.89 percent of budget. Expenses were at 91.2 percent of budget. To cover the overage, the BGCT accessed $1 million from reserves with board approval.

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