Finance Coordinator

## Responsibilities

### **Monthly regular interactions with members**

* Collects 'room rent' checks and sends to COUCH PO Box or gives to COUCH Finance Coordinator to mail
* Collects 'food rent' (food charges, utility expenses, and fines) and deposits in the Brooks Account (through Venmo, @brooks-house, or checks)
	+ This rent is calculated pursuant to the House Charge Form

### **Other regular duties**

* Charges house members fines for missed responsibilities
	+ late rent: $10 if paid on the 3rd or after
	+ coordinate with Secretary for missed meetings: $10 if both meetings are missed in one month
	+ coordinate with Labor Coordinator for missed chores
	+ any of the above $10 fees can be replaced with 1 hour of a chore, designated by the Labor Coordinator

* Issues reimbursements as necessary
	+ allowed up to $10/person/dinner cooked
	+ if you are out of the house for 4 or more consecutive days, you do not have to pay food rent that week
	+ Shoppers may purchase food themselves, submit reciepts to the Finance Coordinator pocket, and be reimbursed
* Arranges payment plans as necessary and solves financial problems when they arise
* Checks karma box periodically for donations from visitors
* Signs and leaves checks for UNFI (first Monday of every month)
* Fills in the finance section in the meeting agenda for every house meeting
* Orders stamps when necessary
* Makes sure that reimbursements for special items are brought to a vote at the house meetings

### **On Member Move-In**

* Explains how finances at Brooks work by sending them the Finance Orientation
* Collect new member security deposit (one full month's rent) and if there are room changes within Brooks, collects or returns the difference in room depositsl.
* Collects $100 Brooks Deposit, which is used for maintaining a minimum house balance, and is returned when the individual moves out

### **Bill payments**

* Monitor email account (brooks505finance@gmail.com)
* Pays utility bills through Busey Online banking.
* Ameren and American Water are paid automatically - check that payment was successful and enter value in spreadsheet to charge house members
	+ **Trash**: every two months, $68, the check arrives in the middle of the month
	+ **Gas+electric**: Ameren, price is variable (~$300-600)
	+ **Water**: American Water, ~$100/mo
	+ **Internet**: $124.90/mo
* Keeps track of house bank account through Busey Bank to avoid overspending
* Sends reminders about upcoming rents due and asks when people will be out of town. Bills info:
	+ Link to **Brooks Bills spreadsheet**
	+ $17/month for parking in the back lot ($2 if you are a shopper)
	+ $15/month for an in-room A/C unit
	+ $145/month for food
	+ The most recent gas/electric/trash/internet bills are summed and divided by number of current house members
* When CSA delivery starts, save a fixed amount each month to reach $1100 by Jan 1 (the cost of two CSA shares from Sola Gratia)

### **Other notes**

* Coordinates with the COUCH treasurer and with the Harvest House Finance Coordinator with questions before going to Daniella or Daniel and NASCO Properties
* Gets 1-2 fewer cooking assignments each month, depending on the time of the year and amount of activity.

**For future generations:** We have no set goal for a minimum balance in our accounts, as this depends on what our eating habits are etc. Usually, there is at least $5K in the account. We occasionally have large purchases such as a lawnmower or leaf blower (which can often be reimbursed from NASCO, but it's nice to have cash on hand to pay these).

## Current Finance Contacts

**Brooks Finance Coordinator**: Alli Nilles

**COUCH Bookkeeper**: Daniella Marinov (daniellamarinov@gmail.com): Her major responsibilities are to cash the rent checks into the COUCH account, and to file our taxes.