Attached below are the Belhaven & Spott church accounts as of 31 December 2024. Following thereafter are some comments about the accounts from Gillian Rae, our church Treasurer:
At a first glance, the accounts appear to show a loss of over £700,000. But this is not a true loss, thankfully.
The old manse was owned by the congregation and its value was included in our accounts. When the new manse was purchased it was agreed to have it legally owned by the central Church of Scotland.
On a day to day basis this makes little difference but it does mean that the value of the manse does not now appear in our accounts. The transfer shown in the accounts of £740,018 is the net
sales proceeds of that manse.
The new manse had a lower cost. The difference between the sales proceeds and the purchase cost of the new manse is held by the central church in the consolidated fabric fund. We can use that fund broadly for the improvement and maintenance of our church buildings, including the new manse.
One other item that requires some explanation is that we managed to recover some funds in relation to the Spott toilet project. A small amount was from central government and a larger amount from the consolidated fabric fund, as mentioned above.
If we were to take out the entries relating to the manse and the recoveries in relation to the Spott toilet project we would have a lower loss of approximately £3,500. That means that our ordinary giving was not covering the cost of our ordinary expenditure.