Fraternity-Testvériség, 1978 (56. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1978-07-01 / 3. szám
IX. ASSOCIATE EDITOR As associate editor of the official publication I wrote articles for the “Fraternity”. I believe that we should publish much more about the activities of the branches. The IRS auditor carefully read all issues of the last three years during the recent examination. X. BUDGET We overstepped the limitation of expenses set by the New York State Insurance Department again. Our “negative safety margin” was $113,588.00 in 1976 and the situation did not change much in 1977 either. New York State Limitation of Expenses for 1977 .....................................................................$703,591.00 Actual Expenses Occurred ..................................... 815,373.00 Negative Safety Margin .........................................$111,782.00 The only consolation I can offer to you in this situation is that these problems are shared by most of the companies and fraternal organizations operating in New York. There is a strong move widely supported by the effected insurance organizations to change the law. XI. OTHER SERVICES In this chapter I am reporting on services rendered which are not enumerated among my duties in the by-laws but were assigned to me either by the Board of Directors or the President. a. I served as Acting Treasurer from January 29 to March 15, 1977, after the death of Mr. Paul St. Miklossy. A special committee supervised the transition of duties to Treasurer-elect Mr. Joseph S. Molnár and made a physical check on our securities. b. Insurances over $15,000.00 are automatically reinsured up to $60,000.00 with the North American Reassurance Company. Over $60,000.00 the facultative basis takes effect. According to our reassurance contract the amount of reimbursement is gradually decreasing as the reserve accumulates along the years the policy remains in force. In 1977 we paid the following reinsurance premium: U.S.A. Canada Premium actually paid .............. ........$6,809.35 $2,792.69 Less: Experience refund ............ ........ 335.20 418.98 Cost of Reinsurance in 1977 ...... ........$6,474.15 $2,373.71 c. I am the Chairman of the Retirement Benefit Plan. We complied with the requirements of the Employees’ Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Plan is approved by the District Director of the Internal Revenue Service. I give the following report on the 1977 transactions: Balance on December 31, 1976 .............................$374,678.15 Contributions received from Members .............. 6,514.97 Contribution from the Federation ...................... 12,000.00 Interest Income ....................................................... 24,631.91 Total ..........................................................................$417,825.03 Less: Benefits and refunds ..................................... 23,276.48 BALANCE ON DECEMBER 31, 1977 ...............$394,548.55 The Plan is fully funded. We have 12 participating members and 11 pensioners. The total reserve of $493,769.00 is set aside as liability. d. I am ex officio Executive Vice President of the Bethlen Home. After the turbulent years of 1976-77, the administration and the accounting of the Home is completely reorganized and I have high hopes that the operation of the Home for the Aged will be conducted by the new Administrator in good order. Since the Federation is the corporate owner of the Bethlen Home, issues concerning new buildings be discussed by this Board. These issues are: 1. The sale of the Children’s Home; 2. Strip-mining contract with special regard to the coal strike; 3. Remodeling or extending the Print Shop building to house museum, archive, and administrative offices; 4. Construction of the “Retirement Center” for elderly people who still can take care of themselves. e. I prepared a feasibility and cost study on automation of the billing system with the cooperation of the National Officers, the Business Counsellor and the Actuary. You heard the presentation of Mr. John Szabó at the last meeting of the Board. f. I submitted an “Application for Recognition of Exemption” in order to make contribution to the Student Aid and Loan Fund tax exempt on September 30, 1977. The law specialist of the District Director of the Internal Revenue Service raised numerous questions which I answered on December 5, 1977 and January 7, 1978. At the writing of this report the final decision is still not known to me. (Tax exemption was subsequently granted. Editor) g. New regulations under the Worker’s Compensation Act increased the fees and made administrative procedure more complicated. With the able help of our insurance carrier, the Bill Aros Agency, we filed reports and paid insurance premium always on time. * * * I use this opportunity to express my sincere and grateful appreciation to my co-workers. I could cope with the diversified duties of my department only with their dedicated and able help. Mrs. Katalin Paschke rendered outstanding service not only as secretary and claim adjustor but took care of other administrative tasks. Dr. Zoltán Korossy once again proved that he is an excellent machine operator and reliable statistician. Mr. Tibor Baksy is a kind of a “Jack of all trades” in the Home Office. He is a senior bookkeeper, payroll clerk, thoroughly knows the claim settlement procedure, back-up man to the machine operator and has several years experience in the Underwriting Department. I really enjoyed the understanding and willing cooperation which prevailed among the National Officers throughout the year. I owe a word of appreciation to all of you who made my often burdensome work easier with advice and help. God bless you all for your fraternal spirit! Respectfully submitted, LÁSZLÓ L. ESZENYI Executive Vice President 9
