Fraternity-Testvériség, 1972 (50. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1972-07-01 / 7-9. szám
Our efforts to reach the beneficiaries and lawful recipients are not always successful. The balance of the fund slightly increased during the last term. Balance on December 31, 1967 ..................$114,241.45 Balance on December 31, 1971 .................. 129,584.62 VI. BUDGET I prepared, in cooperation with the Executive Committee and the Actuary budgets for the last four years and sent monthly budget-expense reconciliation to the National Officers. State of New York set a limitation on expenses with which we complied throughout the term: Year Limitation Actual Expenses Margin 1968 $663,288 $534,002 $119,286 1969 689,947 607,393 82,554 1970 704,655 631,637 73,018 1971 744,299 624,745 119,554 VII. PAYROLL, TAXES The Controller is the payroll officer of the Federation. After deducting the various Federal and State taxes, net proceeds of the salaries were computed and figures forwarded to the Treasurer’s office. Taxes were submitted together with the prescribed return forms to the U.S. agencies and Canadian tax offices always on due time. The more federal and state bureaucrats talk and write about the simplification of tax forms, the more time we spend in computing, forwarding and reporting the different tax levies. Despite the fact that we are exempt from premium income tax, we have to file a return with the Internal Revenue Service since last year and a similar report was requested by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the States of Florida and California. We already pay taxes on our premium income in Canada. VIII. REINSURANCE Members carrying more than $15,000.00 insurance are reinsured with the North American Reassurance Company. I determined and reported reinsurable certificates and subsequent changes. IX. OTHER SERVICES Under this heading I report those services which are not among the duties of the Controller in the by-laws. They were either assigned to me by the President, or I performed them on my own initiative to promote the Federation’s cause. 1) Since 1960, I am the Chairman of the Employees’ Retirement Benefit Fund. The following condensed report gives account on the financial condition of the Fund: Balance on the Fund on Dec. 31, 1967 ............... $139,432.00 Contributions and Interest ....................................... 87,456.87 Total Income ..................................................... $226,888.87 Retirement Benefits and Refund Paid ............... 41,052.02 Balance on December 31, 1971 ............................... $185,836.85 2) I attended 199 conferences of the Executive and Investment Committee during the last four years, each lasting two or more hours. 3) As one of the associate editors of the Fraternity, I prepared a monthly statements of income disbursements and 26 assets for publication as prescribed in paragraph 45. d. and paragraph 46. h. of the by-laws. I respectfully recommend to stop these official reports and inform membership about the standing of the Federation once a year by publishing the reports of the National Officers and the Accountant. The above quoted parts in the by-laws should be deleted. Besides the official publications I wrote 26 articles in the Hungarian and 7 articles in the English language. 4) A mailing list is maintained and changes of addresses are processed in my department. If automation of the Home Office administration will not be authorized, I will recommend the introduction of a new and less expensive method to handle the mailing list. 5) Since 1957, I serve as the recording secretary of the Board of Directors. I prepared 12 minutes during the last term. 6) I served as one of the guardians of the deposit boxes and I accompanied the Treasurer to the bank vault whenever he requested me to do so. 7) I am ex officio Controller of the “Bethlen Home of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America”. In this capacity I attended 28 meetings of the Board of Managers and the Board of Directors of the Home. I am glad to report that the books of the Home are in order and we closed them with yearly growing balance. 8) Unfortunately, I cannot give the same rosy picture about the financial condition of the “Bethlen Freedom Press, Inc.” — as the Controller of this enterprise. The respective Committee of the Convention should examine its finances and carefully weigh the future of the Press. X. SUMMARY During the last term we had two excellent years sandwiched between two lean years. The record decrease in membership and number of certificates presents serious problem. Our insurance in force further increased and I hope that we will hit the magic mark of 50 million dollars when I read this report to you. The growth rate, however, was considerably smaller than what we experienced during the previous term. Assessment and dues income slightly fluctuated but on the average we reached the stagnation point. The increase of $1,894,458.69 in the admitted assets is our most spectacular achievement unmatched by any other similar organization. Yield on the invested assets has shown a growing tendency and reached the unprecedentedly high 4.96%. We added $482,191.03 to the Unassigned Fund which brought our solvency ratio up to 113.37, highest in the history of the Federation. We were greatly aided by our outstanding mortality experience which never went over 50% and in 1970 dropped to the unbelievably low level of 37.2%. Summing up, I can safely report that the Federation is in a very good financial shape. Besides the continued decline in membership and certificates, our gravest problem is the coming examination of the Internal Revenue Service the outcome of which will determine our eligibility for tax exemption as a fraternal organization. * * * I could not possibly cope with the diversified duties of my office without the able and loyal help of my office force. Mrs.
