REPORT OF THE GRAND TREASURER
March 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024
To the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Minnesota:
The financial status of the several funds of the Grand Lodge is reported on the accompanying pages. The total net worth of all cash accounts at the close of the fiscal year was $9,513,611.90. There are no longer any outstanding loan receivables of the Benevolence Fund. The Lodge Building Trust has an outstanding loan balance of ($120,208.33). Adding this figure to the other cash accounts we get a total value of $9,633,820.23. The comparable figure from the year ending 2/28/2022 was $8,473,034.24. Overall, the general market conditions for our different investment portfolios have provided a 13.7% increase for the year. An amount considered to be better than the overall return that the market experienced. There are still market fluctuations taking place due to a variety of world events.
The principal operating accounts of the Grand Lodge are the General Fund and the Reserve Fund. The General Fund can be thought of as our checking account for day-to-day operations. On average there is a balance of $250,000 to $350,000 to pay for our everyday expenses. During the year the Reserve Fund balance was up by almost 16% at the end of the fiscal year. We ended last year at $5,789,408.69and end the current year at $6,709,417.47.
The Benevolence Fund and the Ladd Fund are still very strong. The Prepaid Dues fund was strong enough overall to make payments to Lodges in accordance with the guidelines of the fund. Please see the resolution on sunsetting the Prepaid Dues fund, elsewhere in this document. The Lodge Building Trust Fund (LBT) loans that are being utilized to help with Lodge repairs and renovations. We have also realized a small gain on the unused portion of the funds to build the LBT Fund.
Our partners at Wells Fargo work closely with the Grand Lodge Office and Officers to ensure that they are working to help us reach our goals for the future. The Grand Lodge Office and your Grand Lodge Officers work very hard to provide you with the programs you need along with a strong financial responsibility to look to the future of the Craft in Minnesota.
Thank you to Grand Master MW Dayton Berg and Deputy Grand Master Foster Solem and all the Grand Lodge Officers for their support. It is an honor and privilege to serve you, the members of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.
Fraternally submitted,
Frank Spevak
Grand Treasurer
