According to the budget report released at the recent meeting of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (very similar to the PCA Administrative Committee), the uncollectible GA per capita for 2009 stands at $936,203.

After an additional $20,000 is received from three presbyteries who are committed to settling accounts with the GA, it is expected that the uncollected balance will be $915,000, which is $315,000 more than the revised 2010 budget estimate. That balance will be countered from savings and prior year accumulated per capita.

According to the report, of the 65 presbyteries whose accounts are short, four presbyteries have paid nothing at all. Those presbyteries include Atlantic Korean, Dakota, Hanmi, and Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is also one of the four presbyteries in arrears whose 2009 per capita apportionment exceeded $50,000.

Stating that “we are expecting a total of $20,000 to come in from three presbyteries,” the COGA budget report then acknowledges that “nothing more” is expected “beyond October of this year.”

Reasons given for non-payment by presbyteries to COGA’s inquiries include:

• 42 presbyteries who only remit to the GA what they receive from congregations
• 16 presbyteries acknowledged that congregations within their bounds were withholding GA per capita. That was up from nine presbyteries in 2008.
• 4 presbyteries gave financial problems as their reason and
• 3 presbyteries point to the loss of members through the loss of member congregations as part of the reason for their shortfall.

Of the nearly million dollars in write-offs, COGA listed uncollectible per capita for the following 37 presbyteries whose accounts fell short by more than $5000 in 2009:

1. Greater Atlanta $77,881
2. Charleston-Atlantic $74,696
3. New Covenant $71,093
4. Santa Barbara $56,832
5. San Diego $42,984
6. Sacramento $35,857
7. Shenango $35,642
8. Blackhawk $33,878
9. Hamni $31,156 (expected to remit $1000)
10. Pueblo $31,114
11. Foothills $26,863
12. Central Florida $25,884
13. Philadelphia $25,007
14. Scioto Valley $24,228
15. Muskingum Valley $20,890 (may be $8,000 less, under review)
16. Trinity $20,867
17. Central Washington $19,362
18. Tampa Bay $19,319
19. Peace River $18,180
20. South Louisiana $17,593
21. Southern Kansas $16,155
22. San Jaoquin $15,627
23. Washington $14,926
24. Stockton $12,392
25. San Gabriel $12,221
26. Eastminster $11,696
27. Giddings-Lovejoy $10,753
28. Pittsburgh $10,572
29. Mississippi $ 9,985
30. Lackawana $ 9,787 (expected to be paid in full)
31. Atlantic Korean $ 9,766
32. Mid-South $ 8,137
33. Donegal $ 6,956
34. Plains and Peaks $ 6,933
35. Tropical Florida $ 6,650
36. Beaver-Butler $ 5,763
37. Dakota $ 5,621
38. Yukon $ 5,579

An additional 15 presbyteries fell between $1K and $5K short of paying their full 2009 GA per capita apportionment. It is noted that one of those is actually paid in full but the account was mis-posted. 24 more owe less than $1000 and half of those have very small balances of less than a dollar. Those are categorized as “small balance write-offs.”

In the PCUSA, per capita is requested at every level of governance and per capita rates vary widely across the denomination (from a high of $58.43 in Alaska presbytery) but the Constitution and the ecclesiastical courts hold that per capita remains purely voluntary.

Further, the GAPJC has held that no punitive action can be taken at any level of governance against those who fail to pay per capita.

The GA sets a per capita budget and that in turn drives the per capita rate. In 2008, the GA set the 2009 and 2010 per capita apportionment at $6.15/member. The 2010 GA raised per capita to $6.50 for 2011 and to $6.63 for 2012. Per capita pays for costs associated with the Office of the General Assembly and has no bearing on the General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC).

In related news, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is currently voting nationwide on an amendment to their denominational constitution regarding per capita.

The current language reads, “It is the responsibility of every member and every member congregation to support the whole work of the denomination as they be led in their conscience held captive to the Word of God.” The proposed amendment would add a sentence reading, “Consistent with this principle, the responsibility to support the work of the denomination shall include a requirement that churches, teaching elders, and Presbyteries contribute to denominational support services by paying an annual Registration Fee for the support of the ministry of the Administrative Committee” (PCA, Book of Church Order, 14-1, 4.)

Currently, the PCA nationwide vote on the amendment stands at 6 yes, 13 no. It takes 2/3 of Presbyteries to pass, so 27 no votes will cause the amendment to fail.

Source: http://www.layman.org/News.aspx?article=27769

[Editor’s note: Some of the original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid, so the links have been removed.]