WACD Board Adopts FY 21-22 Budget

Monday, June 21, 2021 – Today the WACD Board of Directors adopted a new budget for fiscal year 2021-2022 (July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022).

Dues reduced for FY 21-22

One of the highlights of the new budget is a reduction in WACD dues for member districts. WACD will be sending out dues notices in the next few days. Those dues notices will show the full dues amount of $3,888.89 with a $400 credit applied, resulting in a net dues invoice of $3,488.89 per member district.

This credit comes about due to increased sales by the WACD Plant Materials Center and from better-than-expected investment performance. When conservation districts utilize their Plant Materials Center, revenue can be used to support WACD’s service to member districts. WACD strongly encourages you to use your Plant Materials Center for some or all of your plant sale needs, including brokered plants from other sources.

Because of the net reduction in dues, we anticipate receiving less revenue from dues in FY 21-22. We budget for lower revenue by harvesting gains in investments. No reduction in services is anticipated as a result of reducing dues.

Annual meeting: virtual and in-person

For the post-Thanksgiving WACD annual conference, the new WACD budget envisions a combination of virtual and in-person events:

  • Before Thanksgiving – Virtual sessions.
  • Monday after Thanksgiving- Travel day, social activities in the afternoon, a banquet for in-person attendees, and additional social time. The in-person meeting location is yet to be determined but our guess is that the conference will be at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma. We are currently negotiating a smaller event with the Hotel Murano so that we can satisfy our contract with them.
  • Tuesday – Breakfast on your own, in-person WACD annual business meeting with lunch provided. We end when we end on Tuesday. We anticipate about six hours of meeting time. Dinner on your own if you stay over.
  • Wednesday – Potential for field tours, conservation district office visits, and other events.
  • Thursday – Washington State Conservation Commission meeting.

Costs look different for the 2021 WACD annual conference. With most programming being provided virtually, we expect the total cost to be quite low. We anticipate setting the registration fee at WACD’s cost for the virtual sessions. The banquet dinner on Tuesday would be paid for by WACD and to cover that cost we will be seeking more sponsors than usual. Help from conservation districts and their network of contacts will be crucial in helping us secure sponsor funding.

We welcome any feedback or ideas about the WACD annual conference and business meeting. Please email your thoughts to oly@wacd.org.

Budget message

WACD Executive Director provided a brief budget message to the WACD Board of Directors prior to their meeting. That message provides some additional context about the budget at a summary level.

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