Stake Request of Refund Check

I am a ward clerk and I recently got contacted by the stake clerk to write a check back to the stake for approximately 2/3rds of the Q4 budget disbursement. The Stake clerk said that this was an error made by Salt Lake but I checked the projected budget allocations and they have not changed and the amount received is in line with what we received for the rest of the year. Anyone have any idea what could have happened? Can the stake change the disbursement percentages mid-year and tried to do so but it did not take for whatever reason?

Also, are there any specific steps we need to take in recording this transaction for audit purposes?

jonmmurdock wrote:Anyone have any idea what could have happened?

My first guess is that someone in the stake didn't withhold enough to fund the stake.

I think this is something the bishop is going to need to talk about with the stake president. 2/3 of the 4th quarter is likely to mean spending nothing for the rest of the year - if it doesn't put you in the red.

Of course, I'm assuming there's been no boundary alignment during the year. If you had a net loss of active members since the 2nd quarter, the automatic allotments would be wrong. You're getting money that should be going to the ward(s) that gained active members. The stake probably wasn't aware they needed to step in and re-distribute the funds.

No boundary changes. I just found it odd. I do not know what the usual disbursement percentages are but currently we are in the mid 60s in most categories which already seems low to me. Just wondering if I am missing something.

jonmmurdock wrote:Just wondering if I am missing something.

I think the stake's missing something.

At this point I'd say no writing checks unless the bishop has approved it.

jonmmurdock wrote:No boundary changes. I just found it odd. I do not know what the usual disbursement percentages are but currently we are in the mid 60s in most categories which already seems low to me. Just wondering if I am missing something.

You can review the "Parent Unit Est Percentage" values for the last four quarters here:
https://lcr.lds.org/finance/#/reports/budget

jonmmurdock wrote:I am a ward clerk and I recently got contacted by the stake clerk to write a check back to the stake for approximately 2/3rds of the Q4 budget disbursement.

Did the stake clerk really ask you to write a check, rather than to transfer funds to the stake using MLS?

Bishop already approved it and we sent the check. I want to check with the other wards in the stake to see if it happened to them too.

I went over the percentages and they have not changed this year except for a minor change in the YSA percentage.

And yeah, they asked for a check. That seemed weird to me. I would have thought it would be easier to just transfer the money.