How to post check for Internet at Family History Center

One of our exiting Family History Centers has just changed Internet providers. The switch from AT&T Internet to Comcast Cable as AT&T was not able to provide more than K download speed. The STS worked with Salt Lake to make the switch and was told that Salt Lake would reimburse us for the install and the monthly service charge.

We received the monthly bill, But I don't know how to code the check for reimbursement. When I call Salt Lake they tell me that Stakes pay for ALL Internet Service except for that which the Church installs. And they have given NO instructions on how to code checks for reimbursement of Internet service for existing approved Family History Center.

Can anyone provide us with these instructions, or even who and how to ask Salt Lake for instructions?

Thanks

KenRichins wrote:One of our exiting Family History Centers has just changed Internet providers. The switch from AT&T Internet to Comcast Cable as AT&T was not able to provide more than K download speed. The STS worked with Salt Lake to make the switch and was told that Salt Lake would reimburse us for the install and the monthly service charge.

We received the monthly bill, But I don't know how to code the check for reimbursement. When I call Salt Lake they tell me that Stakes pay for ALL Internet Service except for that which the Church installs. And they have given NO instructions on how to code checks for reimbursement of Internet service for existing approved Family History Center.

Can anyone provide us with these instructions, or even who and how to ask Salt Lake for instructions?

The cost for Internet connections at approved Family History Centers are not paid by stakes or by Church Headquarters. Rather, they are paid by the local FM Group. In our stake we have both situations -- a building with an official FHC, and others with stake-installed Internet connections. For the building with the FHC, bills are sent directly to the FM Group, which pays them. When we changed service providers a while back, I worked with the FM Group -- since I'm the STS, I met the ISP technician to hook things up, but the FM Group handled all the billing issues.

So there should not be any issue of reimbursement -- the stake should not even be in the loop for billing issues. Talk to your FM Group and work that out. I couldn't tell for sure from your post, but it sounds like the stake wasn't paying bills when AT&T was your provider, but somehow you started paying the bills when you switched to Comcast. You just need to work things out so that Comcast bills are handled like the AT&T bills were, and my guess is that your FM Group was doing that in the past.

The FM Group says they have NEVER paid for Internet at ANY FHC and can find NO instructions to do so! they say that under the NEW guidelines it is the stakes responsibility., NOT the FM Group! Can you give me some documentation to give to the FM Manager for his enlightenment??:D

From Policy and Guidelines For Computers in Family History Centers Dated Nov 2008.

The payment of ongoing monthly costs for Internet
access in family history centers is managed by the local
facilities manager.

Your FM group is confusing the situation with the Broadband Internet Services in Meetinghouses dated Aug 2008 which says:

stake presidents in the United States and Canada Areas
may authorize and fund, out of local unit budgets, broadband Internet connections for meetinghouses within their stakes.

The "Meetinghouses" directive was for buildings that didn't already have Internet access, such as buildings that didn't have authorized FHCs. Note that if this is a non-authorized "FHC", and only organized by the local priesthood, not CHQ, then the stake pays.

Note that the FM groups hasn't always been responsible for FHC Internet connections. I think it used to be the stakes and they were to get reimbursement. However, since you had DSL, the stake clerk might have just lumped it in the phone bill. It made both the Stake and the FM group happy, and CHQ never noticed - so no one complained.

The problem for the FM group is that they haven't budgeted for this expense.

OK, I see my (our) problem. The FM Group led me to have the billing address as the stake and it should be the FM Group address. I will contact Comcast and correct that error. Thank you for the clarifying documents.

Alan_Brown wrote:The cost for Internet connections at approved Family History Centers are not paid by stakes or by Church Headquarters. Rather, they are paid by the local FM Group.

Don't overlook this rather important point. Our stake hosts an "unofficial" FHC and as such pays the ISP bill themselves.