Public Employee Press

DC 37’s 2006 Budget
New Union Budget Improves Services

By MAF MISBAH UDDIN
Treasurer, District Council 37

I’m happy to ­report that our 2006 budget will successfully contain costs while helping the union improve services for our members. A modest growth in our membership coupled with a careful watch over our spending will help keep the union on a strong financial footing. We are also confident that wise investment choices will strengthen the union’s financial condition.

While in 2003 we faced a deficit of over $1 million, by the end of 2004 we had a surplus of $641,931. As of Dec. 31, 2005, the unaudited financial report I presented shows a net gain of $572,747. I will share the 2005 audited financial statement with members shortly.

The budget I submitted to the DC 37 Executive Board late last year called for a mere $857,528 in additional revenue over the 2005 budget. The board approved the $36,765,063 plan for 2006 on Dec. 7.

Earliest budget
The budgeted expense represents a 3.8 percent growth over 2005’s $35,409,844 budget. The increase reflects the current rate of inflation.

I’m proud to say that this was the first time in recent memory that we ushered through a budget before the end of the year. I want to thank the staff, executive office and Executive Board for their help in putting together our plan in such a timely way.

The increase covers four additional positions requested during the three months in which we met with top staff, including division and department heads, to assess their needs.

The added personnel include a coordinator for the union’s new affordable housing program, an attorney, a computer programmer and a second assistant director of the Professional Division, which services more than 40,000 members represented by 20 local unions.

During its deliberations, the Executive Board discussed and decided to add additional funds of over $600,000 to the proposed spending plan. This forced the Budget Committee to approve this year’s budget with a net loss of $400,291!

The extra funds will cover an associate director in the Political Action and Legislation Dept., a clerk for Membership Records, a coordinator for the PEOPLE program and the restoration of salary reductions to the executive director and treasurer positions.

Union priorities
The budget of an institution is an expression of its priorities and underlying philosophy. So even relatively small expenditures like our $50,000 subsidy to the College of New Rochelle and the $48,000 allocated expense to the DC 37 Education Fund send an important message about the union’s commitment to helping its members improve their education and sharpen their leadership skills.

The sentiment of several board members was that we need to bolster the union’s political arm as we enter an important electoral year when New York voters will elect a governor, attorney general and U.S. senator. Since we ­established the new affordable housing program with the help of the Bloomberg administration last summer, we have seen a lot of interest from members who want to realize their dream of becoming homeowners. So, it was really an obvious choice to create a support staff position for the wonderful new program.

Our personnel expenses include a legal requirement to put aside funds for projected retiree health and pension obligations, a sum that will increase by $100,000 this year. I should point out that 74 percent of the budget is devoted to personnel expenses while 26 percent goes for operating and administrative costs. The distribution of expenses limits our flexibility somewhat, since as a union we are reluctant to use ruthless corporate-style personnel practices to balance a budget.

In addition to hiring a new attorney for our Legal Dept., the new budget will add $100,000 to spending for outside attorneys (bringing the total expense for such work to $735,000) to help handle our many arbitration cases.

Our membership was 119,848 in September, up slightly from the previous year. We expect membership growth to keep improving our financial health.

We are also more optimistic about our investment income for this year, compared with 2005. Last year, our earnings were an estimated $327,000. This year, we project investment income at $671,000, an increase of over 100 percent.

Investment income
The reason for my optimism is fairly simple: My staff has learned to take advantage of the rapid price fluctuation of certificates of deposit rather than searching for better earnings in the more slowly fluctuating bond market. Let me assure you that each and every penny of the more than $16 million ($3 million more than last year!) in our short term investment accounts is insured by the bank where they are invested.

The 2006 budget continues to provide the council’s 56 local unions with $1.4 million in financial relief. Under the 2006 budget, the council will once again pick up the dues increase imposed by our national union in 1998.

When our 2006 operating budget was in place, the Executive Board (which also acts as the council’s Budget Committee) met Jan. 19 to discuss and approve the proposed capital budget of $591,115.

This is the second year in a row that we have had a formally approved capital budget. The main items in the capital plan include a new server and other upgrades for our Information Technology Dept., a new computer program for the payroll system, computers for membership services, faxes and other equipment for departments and divisions, and mundane house-keeping improvements like replacing worn-out carpets. I thank all those involved in this complex but rewarding budget process.

In sum, our budget outlook provides a basis to be optimistic about the financial future of the council. We are proud of our spending priorities. And we believe our financial choices will help keep DC 37 at the cutting edge of the labor movement in New York City.

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