Board funds proposals, refers '01 budget for approval
Fiscal accountability was once again a strong consideration throughout the spring meeting of the AVMA Executive Board, April 6-8. AVMA treasurer, Dr. James F. Peddie kept track of expenditures so the board could clearly establish its funding priorities. Dr. Leonard M. Tinney (District IV), Dayton, Ohio, chaired the meeting.
The board approved $71,000 in expenditures from the 2000 contingency fund and $53,000 from the reserves. A sum of $200,000 had been budgeted for the contingency fund for the year 2000 for use in underwriting projects or activities. For this year, $129,000 remains in the contingency fund. Although the contingency fund was not depleted for this year, the board elected to fund two projects by accessing the reserves, or fund balance, which required a three-fourths majority vote. The two projects funded through the reserves were support for the Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams, $50,000 (see next story) and for a meeting and conference call for the Vaccine-Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force (see JAVMA, May 15, 2000, page 1544).
Looking ahead to the coming year, the board accepted the 2001 budget developed by staff with oversight by the board's Budget and Financial Review Committee, and referred it to the House of Delegates with a recommendation for approval. The break-even budget projects $18,954,900 in income and $18,949,550 in expenses, with a bottom line of $5,350 in income over expenses.
Each recommendation reported on the following pages underwent careful review by a board reference committee before the full board acted on it.