SMLC Budget & Finance Committee

July 10, 2006

We heard a presentation from the realtor.  He went through all the options open to us.  His opinion is that finding someone to lease our empty space will be very difficult if not impossible – there is a glut of available commercial lease space in Paw Paw combined with no interest.

He developed a spreadsheet that he shared with us.  The co-op has not been “billing” itself for rent.  We would most likely be paying between 7 and 10 dollars per square foot for leasing comparable space.  The first number is without expenses, the second is inclusive of expenses like insurance, utilities, etc.

The realtor does have interested parties for purchasing the building, but they are interested in the large space on the West end of the building.  The committee did a little tour to see what the back offices are like – they are very small and the east end is so divided that it is not of interest to buyers. If we were to sell and rent space back from the buyers, we would need to do some remodeling.  We could negotiate a lease arrangement that would include the buyer paying for the remodel, but that would most likely bring down the selling price.  The committee decided that it will entertain reasonable offers for purchase.  I have been directed to explore comparable space leasing prices.

The committee worked to revise the budget we are presenting to the board.  We also developed a balance sheet as another educational piece for the board, which more clearly will represent our projected end of year financial position.  We will have that as a hand out at the meeting.

There was a discussion about how we handle pass through money – we have decided that we will develop an approach that makes more sense to everyone for next year.

There has been an item of 804.00 that was carried over from last year’s audit – Claudia will work to get that cleared out.

Mary suggested that I give Secant a call and tell them we need a financial break on some of our computer service issues.

The Committee approved the draft sponsorship fees document and is recommending its adoption by the board.  I need to make some changes to it before we present it.