Fairbanks Bishop Donald Kettler and his diocesan staff will take a twenty per cent pay cut and the chancery will close its doors each Monday in a bid to reduce costs. "Everybody from the bishop on down is taking a 20 percent pay cut," said Robert Hannon, special assistant to the bishop, Newsminer reports.
"We're a pretty bare bones operation right now."
The required furlough for 32 chancery employees is a result of decreased interest income, a downturn in donations from the Lower 48 and additional expenses incurred from ongoing bankruptcy mediation.
"We're just trying to work as efficiently as possible and do what has to be done," said Ronnie Rosenberg, human resources director and litigation coordinator.
Previous to the pay cut, which started this week, the diocese cropped unnecessary expenses including its coffee service and custodial services, making employees responsible for cleaning their office spaces.
"We're trying to keep people's health insurance intact," Hannon said. "It's a hardship for everybody."
Separate cutbacks will be made by employees in the diocese's regional centers such as Galena and St. Marys. The sprawling diocese stretches south from the Alaska Range, north to the Arctic Ocean and west to the Bering Sea.
"The salary cut does not affect parish employees," Rosenberg said.
The diocese in April filed a reorganization plan with the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court, 13 months after the diocese declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, KTUU says.
The plan calls for the diocese to mortgage or sell church properties and commit to fundraising and donor appeals to establish a fund to be used primarily for paying the claims of nearly 300 victims of sexual abuse.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Source (CTHUS)
SV (ED)