Treasurer’s Office News

Plan for a Lifetime of Ministry

Registration now open for The Early Years and The Middle Years Financial and Retirement planning seminars scheduled for September and October 2008. The topics addressed at these seminars will help prepare clergy for a lifetime of effective ministry. Visit the Pensions web page for details.

NC Conference Builds New Headquarters

The 2008 Annual Conference approved the construction of a new conference headquarters in Greenfield Park in Garner. Share with the team your thoughts and experiences related to the project. Visit the NCC Builds web page for details.

IRS Business Mileage Rate Increased July 1, 2008

Due to rising gas prices, the mileage rate increased by eight cents to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2008. The new rate for computing deductible medical or moving expenses also increased by eight cents to 27 cents a mile. The rate for providing services for charitable organizations is set by statute, not the IRS, and remains at 14 cents a mile. See news release IR-2008-82 and Announcement 2008-63.

Property and Casualty Insurance Available

The NC Conference offers insurance through the United Methodist Property and Casualty Trust (PACT). PACT is an all-lines (including Worker’s Compensation) nonprofit insurance trust that is owned by its member United Methodist annual conferences, agencies and local churches. For more information on PACT, please contact the Conference Treasurer’s Office at (800) 849-4433. Click here to learn more about NC Conference PACT.

Please email any questions to nccpact@nccumc.org

Local Church Treasurer/Finance
Email Discussion Group

An email discussion group is in place for those interested in local church finance to enable you to discuss issues facing you with your peers at other local churches. This list was requested by local church treasurers because of the need for an easy way to ask each other questions about local church policy and procedures, accounting software, auditing issues, etc. To join the discussion group, click on the following link: http://listserv.nccumc.org/mailman/listinfo/lcfinance.

Political Election Guidance for Churches

With the focus on political elections, churches are reminded that organizations exempt from income tax under the Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) may not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office. The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Ruling 2007-41 to provide guidance on situations that may or may not be considered to fall under these guidelines. If your church has involvement in election matters or activities, you are encouraged to read the situations listed in the Revenue Ruling to make sure your involvement is not in violation of the guidelines. The Revenue Ruling can be found on the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-07-41.pdf.