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.