Dear Members of OhioMTA Central East District,

Clearly we want to provide as many rewarding experiences for our members and students as possible. But the reality of our situation is this: events are costing more to operate. The last several years we have had to propose “worse case scenario” deficit budgets.  We were able to move forward with confidence knowing that while it would hurt our savings to pay for everything, it would not bankrupt us. But if we had to use our savings to cover our proposed deficits these past several years, it COULD have potentially bankrupted us.

Here are some numbers to help give some perspective.
In 2012-13 we approved a net loss of ($1,775)
We ended the year with a profit of $13,000 due to a profitable Scale Olympics and a wonderful private donation of $10,0000.

In 2013-14 we approved a net loss of ($5,425)
We ended the year with a surplus of $3,000 due to a profitable Pianorama and another nice donation of $3,000 to our district.

In 2014-15 we approved a net loss of ($5,270)
We ended the year with a negative net loss of ($1,537.83)

In 2015-16 we approved a net loss of ($8,545)
We ended the year with a net loss of ($1,977.88)

I don’t have all the numbers in for 2016-17, but last year we approved a net loss of ($7,565). We had a profitable Scale Olympics so I am projecting that our loss for this year will be less than ($2,500)

As you can see we have been steadily adding to our net loss each year. We have been fortunate to have some events turn a good profit like Scale Olympics, and we have benefited from generous private donations. But we need to let our members have full disclosure of what our deficit would look like if, say, all the Buckeye Prizes, Summer Scholarships, Professional Development Grants, etc. were awarded in a given year, and we continue to let student events that used to make money (like Pianorama) operate as a break-even event because they have become so expensive to run.

The budget committee would like to propose the following budget for 2017-18.  Click HERE to download it.  You will see that it shows a net loss of ($8,115).  This budget will be voted on at our Annual Membership Meeting being held in conjunction with our Spring Conference and Luncheon on Friday, April 7, 2017.

I would like the membership to know that I am scheduling a meeting of the Finance Committee this summer to discuss and make recommendations to the board addressing the number of events we offer, the high cost of running all events for teachers and students, ways to increase revenue, etc. It would then be the intent to have a budget proposal for 2018-19 that would be much more balanced.

Sincerely,
Bruce Piper, Treasurer
OhioMTA, Central East District
March 1, 2017