ARCHBISHOP’S ANNUAL APPEAL 2011
ASSESSMENT PROCESS

The pastors of the Archdiocese have agreed that 16.85 % of the aggregate ordinary income of the parishes of the Archdiocese will be provided to fund Archdiocesan ministries and programs that support the work of all the parishes. Pastors devised this process of assessment to fairly distribute that target amount among the parishes. It is overseen by the Archbishop’s Stewardship Council composed of one pastor from each of the eleven deaneries plus Monsignor James T. Tarantino, Vicar for Administration and Moderator of the Curia.

Each parish starts with an assessed percentage of 16.85% of ordinary income. Percentage points are added to or subtracted from that beginning percentage according to the contributing factors below:

DEMOGRAPHICS – The parishes are scaled by Average House Hold Income (high income to low income) as reported in the most recent U.S. Census, and are separated into fifths, or quintiles. To the parishes in the highest quintile, 3 percentage points are added to their assessment percentage.  Those in the next quintile down have 2% added, the middle quintile gets no adjustment, the fourth quintile (of five) has 1% subtracted from their assessment percentage and the parishes in the lowest quintile have 6% subtracted. This provides support to the parishes in the most economically deprived areas. These numbers change once every five years, either with the release of a new census or at the midway point based upon a projection created by outside statistical consultants. (This projection occurred in 2007 and is reflected in the 2011 Assessments).

 

EXTRAORDINARY INCOME – Parishes that have either investment or rental income in excess of 6% of ordinary income are assessed an additional 1%. (Only 1% is added even for those parishes with BOTH investment and rental income in excess of 6% or ordinary income.)

 

HIGH DEBT SERVICE – Parishes that paid more than 10% of ordinary income as interest and principal on a debt receive a minus 1%.

 

SCHOOL SUPPORT – Parishes with schools get a minus 1% while those without schools get a plus 1%, a difference of 2% for having a school vs. not having one.          

 

MAJOR CAPITAL PROJECTS – Parishes with major capital projects that create a hardship for the parish may get a minus 1%.

 

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION – Parishes may get from minus 1% to minus 7% if they require special consideration for situations or circumstances at the parish.

 

After these formula changes are made, a further step is taken to eliminate the deficit between the total assessments and the Archdiocesan goal, as well as to create the pool available to grant appeals.  This is done by dividing the needed amount of money (assessment deficit + needed appeal pool) by the total amount of assessments at this point.  Each parish’s dollar assessment is then multiplied by this percentage (around 3%) and this amount is added to each parish’s assessment to make up the deficit and to create the appeal pool.

Subjective adjustments by the Stewardship Council are used to ensure fairness and to accommodate specific current situations. Large increases or decreases may be phased in over a multiple year period. Finally, a maximum of 20.85 % and a minimum of 10.85 % will apply. Each parish’s resulting assessment percentage is multiplied by its ordinary income as reported on Schedule 11 to determine its proposed assessment. 

Once Archbishop Niederauer has reviewed and approved the list of proposed assessments, the results are published to the pastors. The pastors are also given a date on which assessment appeals will be heard. Appeals should include strong statements of current need that are not reflected in the parish financial statements.  In addition, any appeal pool money remaining after all appeals are granted is refunded to parishes. After the appeals process, Archbishop Niederauer again reviews and approves the final assessments. The total assessment across the Archdiocese must be 16.85% of total Archdiocesan-wide ordinary income.