Paying for Things (Capital Needs)
Question: What do the following facilities projects have in common?
1. 2016 million dollar elevator & boiler projects
2. 2023 roof replacements (school and Parish Center buildings)
3. 2023-24 electric panel replacement project
4. 2024 solar panel installation
5. Parking lot project (hopefully this summer)
Answers:
a. They’re necessary to maintain our facilities
b. They’re desirable, to help the earth
c. Most of them have been financed in whole or in part by Catholic Finance Corporation (CFC)
d. All of the above
The correct answer is d. CFC exists to help Catholic organizations get things done. I know I’m grateful for their helpful advice as well as their financing of our major projects.
Details: of that 2016 loan from CFC, St. Matt’s has paid down approximately $650,000. We will retire the elevator portion of the loan (originally $800,000) in May, 2026. The boiler portion ($200,000) won’t be retired for another ten years, i.e., 2036.
CFC financed the entire cost (c. $300,000) of the roof replacement projects last year. They were willing to do that, because we can roll that project in with the solar project for federal rebate purposes. For rebate purposes, we can also roll in the $109,000 cost of the electric panel replacement. (Recall that we raised that $109,000 through your generosity over the past year. Thank you so much!)
We’ve taken on the solar project ($262,000) to help the earth. It’s cost-effective in the eyes of CFC, as we project about $140,000 in total rebates in a year. In addition, we’ll save on our electric bills each year, in the neighborhood of $18,000 each year.
As for the parking lot project, we’d like to raise as much as possible of the projected $90,000 cost. That reduces our reliance on CFC financing. The good people at CFC like St. Matt’s, but they have their lending guidelines to follow. We’re near our limit.
Thank you for your support, and have a great week!
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