PROCEEDINGS GRAND LODGE - Freemasons of Wisconsin

GRAND TREASURER’S REPORTTo the Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of Wisconsin:Complying with Sections 24.02 and 34.02 of the Wisconsin Masonic Code, Lawsof the Grand Lodge, it is a privilege to submit the Grand Treasurer’s Annual Report.As of April 14, 2006, all lodges except Marinette No. 182, Pewaukee No. 246, andMilwaukee Harmony No. 261 have submitted their Annual Financial Reports.Further, Pewaukee No. 246 and Milwaukee Harmony No. 261 have not paid theirper capita tax. All lodges involved have been sent written notice that they aredelinquent.There are currently 2875 Perpetual Membership Plan participants of whom 2059are living and active. The total PMP per capita funds received was $34,134. Severalbrothers who are on the deferred payment plan are delinquent and have beennotified and appraised of the obligation. Their home lodges will not receive thecorresponding dues until they are current on their payments.The auditors’ report will verify all receipts and disbursements and give anaccounting of the existing condition of the several funds of the Grand Lodge as ofApril 30. 2006, complying with the terms of Section 24.02 and 34.02 and are notduplicated here. The audit report, in all its’ detail, is on file in the Grand Lodge officefor review by any member of the Craft. Also, the report will be printed in the officialproceedings of this Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge Free and AcceptedMasons of Wisconsin.The Grand Lodge Budget adopted for the fiscal year 2005-2006 anticipatedrevenues/expenses of $832,600. The ten months - actual plus two months - estimatedexpenses are projected to be $721,363. This is approximately $111,237 underbudget. The primary reasons for being under budget are the fiscal restraintexercised by the Grand Lodge officers, District Teams and Committees. All GrandLodge officers, Committees and District Teams are to be congratulated for theirefforts.We have come a long way since my predecessor, Mike Walter, first sounded thealarm in 2001. Our operating budget has been reduced from $1,276,360 for the fiscalyear 2001-2002 to a proposed budget of $784,953 for the fiscal year 2006-2007. Thisis a reduction of over $550,000 per year and was in response to the concernsexpressed by our Trustees due to the erosion of our investment funds over the years.As you may or may not know, we have basically two sources of income for theoperating budget -Investment Income Allocation and Per Capita. The InvestmentIncome Allocation has been reduced from over $800,000 per year in 2001 to aproposed $288,885 for fiscal year 2006-2007. These funds are used to cover theshortfall in revenue from the Per Capita received.Per Capita is always a controversial subject. Per Capita is defined as sharingequally among members. If we did not have the Investment Income Allocation to fallback on, the “equal share” or per capita would be slightly over $50.00 per year forfiscal year 2006-2007. Unfortunately, we have always been reactive rather thanproactive when it comes to raising the per capita even as we lose membership. From1996 through 2001 the per capita was $16.00. During that same time period we lost74