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 | Friday, Jun 6, 2008, at 07:27 AM Perpetual Education Fund Original Author(s): jinxidoru MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| I was on my mission when the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) was announced. It is basically a micro-finance system run by the church to help members (especially RMs) pay for an education through small loans. I was very excited about the program when I heard it explained in conference. I was serving a mission in Argentina at the time, so I knew that I had companions who would benefit from this. I really do believe that education is the solution to most of the world's poverty problems.
Over the years, I have donated thousands of dollars to this fund. For a while, I decided to donate the same amount of money I would pay in tithing to the PEF. I may regret all of the tithing I have paid, but, until recently, I have not regretted the PEF funds I have donated. Well, I was speaking with my parents the other day. They are leaving on a PEF mission. So they recently received training on the program. I was very disturbed by something that was explained to me regarding dispersion of the funds. Rather than use all of the money received each year to aid people, they place the money in various investments. They then use only the interest. For instance, let's say I donate $1,000. Rather than use that $1,000 to finance a loan for someone to go to school, they invest the money. Then after a year, maybe they've made 6% on the money. They then take that 6% or $60 and use it to help someone go to school. That, of course, is assuming that they make money back on their investments. In a recession (like now) the return is a lot less (as anyone with a 401k is probably all too aware of right now). My parents were quite surprised to see how frustrated this made me. They tried to explain how this was a good way of doing things, so I finally whipped up an Excel spreadsheet and showed how this was a terrible idea from a perspective of aiding people. From a perspective of generating a great investment portfolio for the church, it's a great plan. I wish there was some way I could depend the money back and give it to an organization that will actually use it properly. |
| | Thursday, Jun 19, 2008, at 08:27 AM More Mormon Waste Original Author(s): BYU Alum MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| I work for a public agency that builds long linear projects in Central California. After environmental reviews have been completed, I frequently must invoke eminent domain (public taking of private land) to achieve project construction. On several projects I have had to cross Mormon Church owned properties. I am talking about thousands of acres of church owned farms here – not a simple church building. Yes, it turns out that the Morg owns vast squares of land here in the San Joaquin Valley.
The local people running the farms are all LDS recommend holders (a condition of employment). They are pleasant enough to talk with, especially when I tell them I am a BYU alumnus. I make a comment that the Church must be doing well with all this land and food processing of corn, wheat, etc. They reply that their farming operation is a money sinkhole and runs red ink every year. Astonished I asked them how this could be. They said they fill their silos each year after harvest. The grain/corn then sits in the silo a full year until the next year’s crop is ready. The year old crop is then sold to create space in the silos for the new crop. The old crop is sold the same time every year, prices be damned. Economics 101 teaches us to sell high and buy low. The farming operation of the church does just the opposite. To sell a year old crop in a silo at harvest time is simply bad business. However, the suits in SLC have the mentality to store a year’s supply of food. The gentleman I spoke with was getting a new assignment to run an even larger operation near Monterey. Turns out the church has a vast, even larger, agricultural operation near Monterey. By the way, during the land acquisition process, I had to work directly with the real estate arm in SLC. The guy I worked with over the telephone was a complete dick. He refused the initial offer of just compensation, with no counter whatsoever. His words were that there was no way the church would agree to provide an easement. Not until I threatened eminent domain did he roll over. He had absolutely no negotiation tactics. Once I threatened eminent domain he accepted the first offer (a low ball appraisal). What an idiot. |
| | Thursday, Nov 6, 2008, at 09:40 AM Mormon Church In Canada: 2007 Financial Information Original Author(s): Adieu LDS MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| nlike the United States all charities in Canada including the Mormon Church must file a Registered Charity Information Return that includes the following information about the charity:
contact information, including Web site address; a general account of the charity's activities; and financial information such as income and expenditures, assets, and liabilities. The Registered Charity Information Return may give you an idea of how much of its resources it devotes to charitable activities. Returns are available online dating back to 2000. The Mormon Church in Canada is BN/Registration Number:119223758RR0001 The information can be found at the following website: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/sr... You can find any ward or branch by typing in the ward’s name at the following website: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/sr... Example: Type in “Latter” and “Calgary”, and all wards with Calgary will come up. For other wards type "Latter" and the name of the ward or branch. Some wards do not have "Latter" so just type in the ward name. This is the first year in which compensation has been declared: The Mormon Church in Canada had revenue of $ 159,507,000 however; they claim expenses of $185,647,000. Total Assets: $622,663,000 Note: Compensation includes all forms of remuneration (e.g., salaries, fees, and honoraria) and benefits (e.g., personal use of a car or office space). On average, how many permanent, full-time, compensated positions did the charity have in the fiscal period? 203 For the five highest compensated positions indicate the number of positions in each of the following annual compensation categories. Include only those positions that are permanent, full-time positions. $1-$39,999 $40,000-$79,999 $80,000-$119,999 4 $119,999 and over 1 On average, how many part-time or part-year employees did the charity employ in the fiscal period? 366 What was the total expenditure on compensation for part-time or part-year employees in the fiscal period? $ 1,827,405 2007 Cash, bank accounts, and short-term investments $63,747,000 Capital assets (at cost or fair market value) $ 545,895,000 Other assets $ 13,021,000 Total assets $622,663,000 Accounts payable and accrued liabilities. $2,245,000 Amounts owing to non-arm's length parties $47,882,000 Other liabilities Total liabilities $50,127,000 Revenue Total eligible amount of tax-receipted gifts $2,399,856 Total amount received from other registered charities $142,437,144 Interest and investment income $7,517,000 Other revenue $7,153,000 Total revenue $ 159,507,000 Travel and vehicle $3,064,139 Office supplies and expenses $ 1,313,480 Salaries, wages, benefits, and honoraria $15,889,025 Donated and purchased supplies and assets expensed $74,665,633 Amortization of capitalized assets $24,392,208 Other expenditures $5,242,701 Total expenditures before gifts to qualified donees $124,567,187 Total charitable programs expenditures $124,565,610 Total management and administration expenditures $1,577 Total gifts to qualified donees, $61,079,813 Total expenditures $185,647,000 |
| | Thursday, Jan 1, 2009, at 05:32 PM Dubious Partner For The City Creek Center Original Author(s): John Ward MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| "The project's cost (of reportedly over US$2 billion, excluding the planned City Creek condominium tower) raises questions of whether this isn't a money laundering operation. For comparison, world's tallest completed building by roof the Shanghai World Financial Center's construction was valued at US$ 1.2 billion for 377,300 m2. The 818 m (2,684 ft) tall Burj Dubai project has an estimated cost of US$ 4 billion for 334,000 m2, against the 81,000 m2 of the mall (3 story high in most of it's elevation). Another comparison, The Time Warner Center in New York (where property values are considerably higher, than the Salt Lake downtown area) was estimated to have a market value of US$1.1 billion in 2006[7], for it's 260,000 m² (2.8 million ft²)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Cre... There is also reason for suspicion given the use of Taubman to assistant in the development of City Creek Center. The founding of Taubman (Alfred Taubman) has an unsavory reputation. "A. Alfred Taubman, the former chairman of Sotheby's Holdings who has a personal fortune in excess of $500 million, was judged guilty of price-fixing today by a Manhattan federal court jury. That's the "who," "what," "where" and "when." The "why" resides somewhere in Taubman's own heart. The eight-man-four-woman jury deliberated for less than two days on the case involving allegations of a price-fixing scheme between Sotheby's (nyse: BID - news - people ) and archrival Christie's. It decided that Taubman, 76, masterminded the plot along with his Christie's counterpart Sir Anthony Tennant to fix commissions in a way that cheated art sellers out of millions of dollars." http://www.forbes.com/2001/12/05/1205... Taubman has a history of illegal activities dating back for several decades: "In 1975, Lindner's AFC allied with Detroit financier Max Fisher, formerly of the murderous Purple Gang; Detroit real estate developer Alfred Taubman (a Fisher associate); and Paul and Seymour Milstein, to grab a 50% controlling interest in the United Fruit Company. Drug Enforcement Administration officials had confirmed to the authors of EIR's bestselling book Dope, Inc.: Britain's Opium War Against America, that United Fruit was a major force in the Latin American cocaine trade—a business that skyrocketed following the Lindner-Fisher, et al. takeover. The Lindner group's takeover of United Fruit was only made possible by the mysterious death of the company's chairman and largest stockholder, Eli Black, on Feb. 3, 1975. Black fell to his death from the 44th floor of the Pan Am Building in New York City, in what was officially declared a suicide. At the same time that Lindner, Fisher et. al. were grabbling United Fruit, Lindner's AFC simultaneously allied with a group of other Lansky-linked entities to establish a formidable pool of interlocking companies that would collectively form the core of the junk-bond raiders. By 1977, Lindner owned: 40% of Saul Steinberg's Reliance Insurance Company. Steinberg had gotten his start as a business partner of Britain's Lord Jacob Rothschild and later had extensive dealings with Kenneth Bialkin, the longtime Chairman of the Anti-Defamation League and a top New York City lawyer representing many junk bond pirates and corporate raiders of the 1980s." http://www.britanniaradio.co.uk/?q=no... So...the Mormon Church is working with a real estate development company that is the brainchild of a convicted felon. From the above it is evident that this company also has a record of dealings with the illegal drug trade and the mafia. Speculative? Perhaps...but if your kid spent his time hanging out with a group of kids that sold drugs and robbed people what would you suspect? |
| | Monday, Mar 9, 2009, at 07:45 AM Update On General Authority Salary Just In Original Author(s): cricket MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| This just in at the GA Salary section of the Salamander. You decide what to make of it.
A former stake president of the old Lynnwood Stake of the Mormon Church, a Marcus Nash, who recently became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, explained to me at length, on one occasion, that general authorities of the LDS Church receive a percentage of their professional incomes as a salary (he used salary instead of stipend) on becoming general authorities. Before becoming a full-time GA, Nash was a partner in the Staffrd Frey law firm in Seattle, and the main defending litigator for the Church in all lawsuits arising against the Church from such torts as, for example, sexual abuse condoned by the LDS Church which, by the way, has cost the Mormon Church over 20 million dollars in judgments and settlements. Nash was pulling down, before taxes, $130,000 per year as a law firm partner. So he entered his job as GA for the Mormon Church at approximately $70,000 per year. Another Mormon associate, a high priest in one of the wards, who I knew pretty well in the Lynnwood Stake, who had known Nash very well many years before I knew him, said that, as a Church leader, "he (Nash) didn't know how to handle money, that his wife handled all his finances." A non-Mormon who was very close to the Nash family stated that "Mrs. Nash wanted the Church calling for her husband much more that Marc did. Mrs. Nash had always wanted to be in the Church limelight, and the more the better." There are presently about 230 full-time General authorities of the Mormon Church, each of whom receive at least $50,000 per year as salary for his work. In addition, all of the full-time Relief Society Presidency women receive salaries for their church work. The specific amounts are unknown to me. The notion that Mormon tithing money is not used to pay GA salaries is ludicrous. You see, Mormon finances are so corporately entwined that you can't really separate the corporation from the church. The Church financial structure is guardedly veiled and the systematic transfer of funds from corporate accounts to general tithing accounts, to fast offering accounts, to missionary accounts, to salary accounts is done in secrecy. The Church has a Mormon accountant representing an allegedly independent accounting firm stand-up in General Conference to state that "Church finances are in proper order." That's all that is ever said publicly about Church finances and a big mistake. No organization, person, or government entity has ever sued the Church for a detailed accounting of the way Church monies are used. This has allowed the Mormon Church to use its riches for less than honorable purposes, such as quickly calling a political issues moral issues and putting millions of dollars behind getting them defeated, such as the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. - 03/08/2009 - Suasponte For more on salaries: http://www.salamandersociety.com/foye... |
| | Monday, Apr 6, 2009, at 07:34 AM Church Auditing Department Original Author(s): chocmool MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| I never thought I could be so bugged when I have been out and away from the church for the better part of three years. Unfortunately, conference always brings it out in me.
During conference, we have an unknown man get up and read a letter from the church auditing department. They tell us that this unknown department is independent from all other areas of the church. This mythical auditing department, populated (we are told) with capable and certified individuals, have access to all financial records of the church. (I find this hard to believe since the church hasn't been open with its finances for the better part of a century.) The auditing department has evaluated the finances of the church based on policies that are unknown, and procedures that any member of the church do not have access to. Why are the church finances all fine and righteous? Because an unseen and unknown "department" of the church tells us so through a letter read in general conference! Keep in mind that in recent years, the church has done a lot of back peddling, saying "not everything said over the pulpit is doctrine or true." So what is? Reminds me of the song, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so." It stretches credulity to imagine that the only historical record we have of Jesus should be the source of all knowledge. How do we know that Jesus exists? Well, the bible says so! How do we know he died for our sins? The bible says! How do we know the bible is true? Well, silly, the bible tells us it's true! So, how do we know the church isn't spending BILLIONS of dollars on a MALL in downtown Salt Lake while faithful saints are paying their tithing and going without and suffering in this economic downturn? Well, silly, we know that the church is spending their money righteously because they say so! Well, then, I guess I was stupid to even ask. |
| | Monday, Jun 22, 2009, at 08:51 AM Mormons And The Courts Original Author(s): Anonymous MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| A few years ago I needed an attorney and was referred to a high profile law firm in Salt Lake City. I knew one of the firms attorney's through a professional association.
I was invited in for a meeting and immediately knew that this place was somehow different. I met with two attorneys who told me what a wonderful case I had and how they could do the case on contingency at no cost to me. A few days later I received an engagement letter that required I cough up about $10,000 to get things going. When I questioned one of the attorneys about the fee, he denied ever offering me a contingency arrangement. I was stunned. He then got quite belligerent with me, which was quite weird. I called another attorney friend and he confidently told me that this firm is very closely connected to TSCC and this helps them when their high-dollar, out of state clientele need a friendly place to try a case. The attorneys, judges, courts, etc. are all part of the same cozy club, TSCC. Part of the money the firm makes finds it's way back to TSCC, the client gets a favorable verdict, everyone is happy. In another case, the Olympic bribery case, I thought it was quite odd how quickly and quietly the federal case went away due to "lack of evidence." Perhaps I'm just looking for a conspiracy. |
| | Monday, Aug 10, 2009, at 07:50 AM Deseret Ranch Vs. State Of Florida Original Author(s): General in the Pre-Existence MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| For anyone who may have missed it, about a month ago, the State of Florida expressed an interest in tapping into Deseret Ranch's lake (constructed with public funds) to ease the water troubles of nearby towns.
Deseret Ranch decided it would be happy to oblige....for millions of dollars in fees. Believing things like water to be a public resource, St. Johns River Water Management District has filed a lawsuit against the ranch, and the morg brought out its legal team. It is expected to take up to 2 years to resolve the dispute, taking all the appeals into account. Apparently their humanitarian aid doesn't extend to providing water to locals from government funded projects. http://www.floridatoday.com/article/2... |
| | Monday, Sep 21, 2009, at 08:02 AM LD$, Inc.'s $62m Deal To Build Up To 20,000 Homes In Sarasota Springs, UT Original Author(s): MikeUT MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| "In an emergency meeting on Friday, Saratoga Springs council members voted unanimously to purchase $62 million-worth of federal water for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As part of the agreement, the city also agreed to annex nearly 3,000 acres of church farmland and will compel some smaller landowners to join the annexation. The water will allow the business arm of the church to develop its land, plus as much as several thousand more acres in the area, building up to 20,000 homes, nearly quadrupling the city's population. The deal, which gives the church 10,000 acre-feet of water, is unusual on several fronts. For starters, the $62 million must be paid in a single lump on July 1, 2019. In addition, beginning in 2020, the city must pay $3 million a year, in perpetuity, and that payment will rise over time to an unknown amount, and must be paid whether the city uses the water or not. Initially, the church will pay the annual fee as well, and as homes are developed, owners will take over those payments in the form of their water bill. Both the annual payments and the lump-sum will be paid to the Central Utah Water Conservancy District for water being piped through Spanish Fork Canyon. The city does not have the money. "Once the city signs [the deal], we cannot change it or back out of it or anything, and we don't have $62 million," said city manager Ken Leetham. A representative of the LDS Church who spoke in the meeting declined to verify his name or who he was representing when asked by the Daily Herald. The city confirmed his name as Roger Childs, and his employer as the development arm of the Corporation of the Presiding Bishopric of the LDS Church." HOW is Sarasota Springs coming up with $62M to buy the water? From the same report: "To get the money, the city is requiring the church to deposit $62 million in a Zions Bank account 12 months before the payment is due. In addition, in case for some reason the church does not come through with the money, the city required the church to put a $62 million trust deed on 2,800 acres the city will annex. The city would be able to sell that land to come up with the money, should the church fail to pay. The city did not put out notices of the meeting until Thursday and never mentioned the $62 million on public notices. Rather, notices said only that the city would consider "the purchase of water rights." For what may be the largest financial deal in the city's history, not a single member of the public was present." "As part of the deal, Saratoga Springs granted to the church the right to develop the equivalent of 20,000 residential units on land that has not even been zoned yet. "What is the city going to get out of this?" Godfrey asked rhetorically. "I think we need to acknowledge candidly that we are committing to some significant density on this property even though it is not zoned. I think we need to enter into this contract with eyes wide open." To make the issue more complex, city staff said that because the land has not been zoned, those "equivalent" residential units could actually be industrial, retail or high-density housing. Until recently, the city has specifically turned down offers to purchase this water, saying that they wanted to work on their own system of culinary wells instead. But that all changed when the church approached the city about six months ago. "They have several thousand acres they will develop in the future, and they wanted to take advantage of the discounted Central Utah Water product," said a staffer." (ref. http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local...) Meanwhile on the missionary front, members are still being 'encouraged' by church leaders to provide housing for mishies (at a small fraction of fair market rental value), which reduces LD$, Inc.'s costs at a time when the $2B SLC mall-and-condos project in SLC and the church's new, $35M hotel-in-Hawaii project move ahead. The BBC reported three months ago that, according to UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, the no. of people who are going hungry has reached 1 billion (ref. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/810...). $62 million would feed about 15,000 people for a decade. Pres. & CEO Jesus Christ, however, apparently wants thousands of acres in UT to be developed as yet another commercial real estate venture of his 'one, true' church, LD$, Inc. |
| | Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009, at 07:56 AM LDS Inc. Using Slave Labor To Gobble Up Even More Water Rights Original Author(s): bender MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| Isn't buying up water rights part of the for profit arm of the church? But they're calling unpaid senior missionaries to do it. This is a pdf from lds.org showing current needs and openings for senior missionaries.
http://www.lds.org/csm/missionOpportunities.pdf On page 6 was this opening: "WATER RESOURCES SPECIALIST: Individuals or couples with an engineering and administrative background in water resources and water rights are needed to serve Natural Resources Section of the Real Estate Division in the Physical Facilities Department at the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City. The individuals will assist in protecting the Church’s water rights in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, and Washington, and the other eleven (11) western states. The spouse would perform clerical or office support items, unless also qualified on water-related topics. A minimum of 32 hours per week is expected; length of service is negotiable (generally 18–24 months). A technical background in water resource issues in any of the eleven (11) western states is required. A professional engineering license as a civil engineer or other engineering discipline is desirable, but not necessary."It doesn't look like they're stopping in just Utah, Nevada, and Florida. The posting says 11 western states. Naturally they assume that the male has the engineering degree. |
| | Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009, at 07:58 AM Another For Profit LDS Venture - The "Church" Owns 7% Of Florida Original Author(s): profxm MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| My brother-in-law came to visit last weekend. As science geeks, we tried to see a shuttle launch while he was here (the launch was canceled 11 minutes before liftoff because of weather – ugh!). On the way to watch the launch we stopped by Deseret Citrus and Cattle Ranch to see the Mormon Church’s ranching operations.
Alas, as former Mormons, we failed to consider that they wouldn’t offer tours on Sunday. But we stopped by the Visitor’s Center anyway and drove around a bit. I knew from the Deseret Ranches’ website and this wikipedia page that the ranch was big, but actually driving around the ranch made me wonder just how big it is. So, I spent a good 10 hours or so trying to see if I could map out just how big the ranch is. After all that time, I realized it was simply too big for me to easily map out by myself. But, the research I did do provided me with some fascinating information. First off, thanks to a corporation registration website in Florida, I was able to track the name changes of the holding companies for the ranch over the years, eventually finding the current name. It used to be Deseret Properties of Florida, Inc., Deseret Farms, Inc., Deseret Farms Inc., Deseret Ranches of Florida, Inc., Deseret Livestock Company, Deseret Properties of Florida, Inc., Deseret Ranches of Florida, Inc. (1), Deseret Ranches of Florida, Inc. (2), but it is now called Farmland Reserve, Inc.. Once I finally found the current holding company, I was able to visit the property tax appraisers’ websites for the three main counties where the ranch is located: Osceola, Orange, and Brevard. On those sites I found all the property listings of Farmland Reserve, Inc. Here’s a summary of what I found after I added them all up:
Yep, you’re eyes do not deceive you – LDS, Inc. has more than $1 billion in for-profit property in Florida. The acres convert to 457 square miles, or .7% of the State of Florida. I can’t say for certain, but my guess is that LDS, Inc. is the largest landholder in the state behind the government. For comparative purposes, Disney owns 25,000 acres (that’s all of their properties, not just Disney World), or about 1/12th of the land owned by the LDS, Inc. holding company. To tally all of this information, I actually built a spreadsheet that you’re welcome to download and peruse. I also started drawing the land parcels in Google Earth, but once I realized just how many there were, I decided I just didn’t have the time. I did complete all the land in Orange County and started on the land in Osceola County. If you want to see the maps or, better yet, if you’d like to improve/complete the maps, you can download them here: Orange County, Osceola County. If you do download them and improve them, please send me a copy of the updated versions as I’d like to have them. As I was searching through these listings, on a whim I decided to see if Farmland Reserve, Inc. owned any property in my county, Hillsborough, FL, which is all the way across the state from Osceola and Brevard Counties. Turns out they do (see above table). That’s in addition to the $12 million owned by “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Corporation”, which is the company that holds the churches. This makes me wonder just how much property Farmland Reserve Inc. owns. I checked a couple additional counties in Florida but didn’t find any more property. One of the reasons I wanted to visit the ranch is because my aunt and uncle recently completed a mission there (I should have gone while they were there, but never made it). The amazing thing about the fact that they served a mission there is that they did zero proselytizing and they paid to serve their mission. So, what did they do? My uncle was a high school shop teacher. He knows how to build and repair homes. So, they put him to work building homes on the ranch. He’s round 70 years old and was working 12 hour days 6 days a week for 18 months. His wife ran some of the tours and did other odd jobs around the ranch. When I found out that my aunt and uncle were paying for the opportunity to work for Farmland Reserve, Inc., a billion dollar for profit company, I was not very happy. Not only did the LDS Church use tithing money to buy the ranch (I’m assuming, maybe it was profit from some other business venture), but now it makes people pay for the opportunity to make one of their subsidiaries money. How is that at all ethical? To wit, the obvious question is: How does the billion dollar ranching operation of the LDS Church further its religious aims? Why does a religion need a billion dollar ranch? Anyone? http://latterdaymainstreet.com/?p=694 |
| | Tuesday, Jul 27, 2010, at 12:03 PM The Cost Of A Building Error Original Author(s): The Mighty Builder MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| The Mormon Church is currently troubled by the structural deterioration of the Church Office Building (COB).
When constructed the metal skeleton was clad with precast concrete slabs. This was done at great savings compared to other types of cladding considered by the Mormon Church. It is cheap, easy to install and was suppose to last for centuries. This cladding system was also used on the Mexico City temple when it was first built. In the correct environment it is a very suitable system. However as the Mormon Church has discovered in the wrong environment it is a disaster. Several years ago a piece of cladding fell off the Mexico City Temple. Forensics discovered that the rebar used in the concrete had begun to deteriorate (rust) due to the hygroscopic properties (affinity for water) of unsealed concrete. Given the humid/wet environment of Mexico City the rusting of the rebar caused it to swell. This swelling puts great pressure on the concrete until it cleaves along a fracture plain and fails. The result is concrete patches falling from the sky. It became so critical at the Mexico City Temple that the Mormon Church had no choice but to close the temple and re-clad it with another material, in this case a Granite. $40 Million dollars was spent on the refurbish/remodel of the temple. Well, the same thing is happening with the COB. Though no material has fallen off the building, it is continuing to deteriorate. It was thought at first that some sort of stabilization could be done on the material. But nothing tried so far works. Well we got the estimation for refurbish/remodel of the COB – 1.34 Billion Dollars. |
| | Tuesday, Jul 27, 2010, at 07:33 AM About The Ogden Temple Original Author(s): The Mighty Builder MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| The Ogden Temple is going to be remediated/remodeled to enhance the Temple and the surrounding area.
When originally constructed it was done in the same architecture as the Provo Temple again using precast concrete as the exterior structure. This is deteriorating just as the COB. What is really forcing the remodel in my OPINION is the lack of leasing of the Ensign Plaza South Class “A” office building because of the BUTT UGLY TEMPLE. The Mormon Church owns the property to the North and South of the Ogden Temple. A couple of years ago, the Mormon Church decided to develop the property North and South of the Temple to preserve the “Beauty and Majesty” of the Temple and frame it with edifices worthy of the House of the Lord. So construction of Ensign Plaza South began, with the North Plaza to follow once the South Plaza was at least 80% occupied. As with all Mormon construction projects Satan was soon plaguing the build. First after the footings and foundation walls were poured it was discovered they were 1 foot over the property line towards the city right of way (sidewalk and street). The Mormon Church asked if they could buy the right of way incurred upon to which Ogden city said NO! So the construction was delayed by the requirement of moving the footings and foundations 1 foot west. Of course during the excavation for the new footings and foundations walls the excavator hit an unknown “UST” (underground storage tank). This immediately brought the build to a halt. Now the enemy of the Church geotechnical engineers found the soil to be contaminated so it had to be remediated/removed. The remediation/removal took six months. Well once construction started after the delay the greedy subcontractors immediately raised all their prices. They were unwilling to accept a 5 to 20 percent loss on their profit margins because enemy of the church suppliers hadraised the prices for materials such as concrete, wood, wiring, glass, etc. After negotiations were completed on the price increases, we were once again building for Commercial Mormon Jesus. And things were moving happily along with everyone involved signing “Put your Shoulders to the Wheel” when once again Satan appeared. It seems that while the construction was progressing the Mormon Church signed an exclusive listing with a “good” friend (soon to be enemy of the church) realtor. With his exclusive rights he was busy signing leases for the building. Only it turns out that when the building was ready to outfit for the new tenants, there were none. NOPE, no new happy renters, gleefully giving money to the Mormon Church. It seems the now enemy of the church exclusive realtor made up all the leasers. To keep his exclusive rights he had to report weekly during the construction of who was gobbling up what floor and how much. So he pulled a fast one on the Mormon Church and just named names (kind of like weekly missionary reports about tracting/teaching statistics – maybe he learn this onhis mission). SO to this day, Ensign Plaza South is at only 20% occupancy. Ensign Plaza North is just a promise (like moving back to Missouri) someday to be built. So my best guess is that the Ogden Temple is being renovated/remodeled to look like Ensign Plaza South so maybe it can finally be filled. Oh, final cost of the $20 Million budgeted Ensign Plaza South – $58.2 Million |
| | Wednesday, Jul 28, 2010, at 07:45 AM Mormon.org Spends $6.5 Million On Google Advertising In One Year Original Author(s): JMoney MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| As a webmaster by trade, I use this tool called, SpyFu.com all the time in order to see what my competitors are spending on certain keywords and terms.
Spyfu.com is the most accurate tool to determine what competitors are spending on Google AdWords advertising program. The reason I know is because I SpyFu my own Google AdWords campaigns and Spyfu.com is 95% accurate every time. Here is what SpyFu says about Mormon.org http://spyfu.com/Domain.aspx?d=-20041... This means the church has, in the past, paid for 1,812 keywords which results anywhere from 4k a day up to 18k a day. If you take the highest they have paid, 18k in one month and times it by 30 days you get $540,000 a month in advertising. Times that by 12 months and it comes out to be 6.5 million in a year range! This may be a high estimate, and things vary and monthly budgets may be higher or lower, but you get the idea of how much the church spends on the net. |
| | Wednesday, Jul 28, 2010, at 07:47 AM Church Owns Water Company in Hawaii Original Author(s): Not Wife #19 MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
I realized that LDS, Inc. is building (already built?) a luxury hotel in Hawaii through Hawaii Reserves, Inc., but did not realize that HRI manages over 7,000 acres in Laie and owns the water company that provides the island with its H2O. Apparently, the land was purchased in 1856 by the church, so just add this to the many multibillion dollar tentacles of big business masquerading as an ecclesiastical organization. The link is below with a quote from the website.
"Established in 1993, Hawaii Reserves, Inc. is a Hawaii-based corporation that manages properties affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints primarily located in the historic community of Laie, Hawaii. Laie's rich history is epitomized by the renowned Hukilau Beach, where the town's first commercial hukilau took place in 1948. Laie is also home to Brigham Young University-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center, Hawaii's most popular paid attraction."http://www.hawaiireserves.com/water.h... I went back and re-checked the land acquisition date. Their websites shows 1865. I was shocked when I found out about the massive amounts of land for cattle ranches in Florida that the church owned. This shocks me even more. I'm assuming that the church acquired the water rights along with the land. Where else is an island going to get their water? Got the people right where they want them, I'd say. Here are a couple of other business involvements of the church through HRI. This is again from their website. 1. "L a ? ‘ie Water Company (established in 1991) operates the water system for the community of L a ? ‘ie and surrounding agricultural properties, delivering pure water from a basal aquifer deep beneath the ground." 2. "L a ? ‘ie Shopping Center (built in 1969) provides more than two dozen commercial and professional services in a 72,000-square-foot retail complex. From hardware to health care, the center serves a wide range of needs for the entire North Shore community." 3. "La ?‘ie Treatment Works runs a $20 million state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facility constructed by HRI. Since its construction, the facility has run at an operating loss of approximately $1 million annually. An agreement between HRI and the City and County of Honolulu allows for the transfer of the facility to the city." "As a for-profit company, HRI uses revenues generated by its business ventures to fulfill its vision of creating an economically vibrant and sustainable L a ? ‘ie. Although affiliated with the LDS Church, HRI does not rely upon tithing paid by LDS church members to fund its operations. The company’s business ventures exemplify its deep roots in and long-term commitment to L a ? ‘ie. HRI seeks to invest in the community while preserving the unique character of the area." I threw in that last paragraph because of the spin the church attempts to put on their vast business holdings. As they spin it, it all sounds too altruistic and noble when they're making a "long-term commitment" to what they make sound like community service (rather than making a buck). And, the "does not rely upon tithing" plea is wearing thin on me. They apparently had absolutely NO seed money for all of this. Or, perhaps DOES not doesn't mean DID not in that quote. More spin. Why is an ecclesiastical organization's main interest in hotels, conference centers, real estate, broadcasting, life insurance, cattle, sugar, and water, instead of, say, shelters for the homeless sewer-dwelling begging children of third-world countries? |
| | Monday, Aug 9, 2010, at 01:53 PM You Will Discover The Same Money-Emphasis From Day Zero Original Author(s): Anonymous MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| This is the top of the iceberg. May I suggest to all faithful LDS to study the Church History from day 0, along with main publications against it, such as John C. Bennett book...
You will discover the same money-emphasis from day zero. Find-out that the origin of tithing was: "...voted to come up to the law of tithing, so far as circumstances would permit, for the benefit of the poor" (Church History Vol 2, Chp. 4, Tuestady 3, pg. 42) Clearly the prophet (JS) and subsequent Church's presidents and upper managers (notice the function:= management), managed to cover-up from naive believers that their financial contributions where to build the kingdom of God.. If SLC is the Kingdom of God on Earth, I would cry bitterly... I believe that as the own Church's leaders rejoice in stating in the Instructional Videos about the first Quorum of Twelfe's President pseudo "fall", [the Church] is building the somebodies' Corporation and not the Kingdom of God... My solution to the problem is simple: stop paying tithings to SLC. Donate your tithings to local charity verifiable initiatives (i.e., beware of wolves in sheep's clothings.) Shame, shame, shame dear president and general authorities.... I felt deceived, ripped-off, etc... From a former missionary, former bishop, former BYU student, former Church's PBO in an international Area... But, as Jesus taught: "all secrets will be unveiled..." Research for yourself and find out how Area Presidents make more than $300,000 per year in benefits (i.e., furshished housing in the fanciest neighborhood + twice a year trips to SLC in first class + international schools + two luxury full-equipped cars + house utilities, surveilance & maintenance, full health insurance, etc.) in addition to the "modest" salary never disclosed by the Church... Church's unconditional loyal members that doesn't want to open their eyes may say that this is almost nothing, but Jesus taught that the trustful good shepper loves his sheep and that it is able to offer his life for the flock; on the other hand, the assalariated shepper will flee when the danger comes.... Have you seen our General authorities doing community service, elbow to elbow with faithfull saints? I have never, nevertheless I have witnessed more than 10 visits of "General Authorities" to Southamerica. They always: arrive and are escorted with bodyguards, rested in the fanciest hotels, eat the more luxury meals, attended several ceremonies in their honor, gave a speech, gave a blessing or two, and then went to the country in a tour with the local authorities, not to do service with the poors, or the needy, but to visit the local attractions, and after all, return to the hotel, for preparing another "heavy day", and finally, leaving the country in the same way as they arrived: in first class... Of course, there should be some exceptions, but I have never seen a single one!!! Shame, shame, shame... Full of me, that it tooked more than 40 years to open my eyes !!!! |
| | Wednesday, Jan 12, 2011, at 08:10 AM Mormon Church Buys Junkyard Site For $2.1 Million Original Author(s): goddiscussion MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
From God Discussions:
What has been the home of Boughton's Auto Salvage — a garage, junk yard and used-parts facility — is an important site to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (i.e., the Mormon Church), which has purchased the property for $2.1 million.http://www.goddiscussion.com/39007/mo... |
| | Monday, Mar 21, 2011, at 07:27 AM A Snapshot Of The Finances Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints In Canada Original Author(s): Harrison Ames MORMON MONEY - SECTION 2 -Guid- | ↑ |
| The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) makes available to the public certain aspects of each registered charity in Canada. Each ward is registered as its own charity (487 in total) and are registered under names like “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Cherry Grove Ward, while the church also registers another charity for the church as a whole in Canada (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada – BN 119223758 RR0001).
In reviewing the 2009 filing for the nationwide charity, I found some numbers that I wanted to share with you. 1) It looks like each ward takes care of their local welfare and their activities budget out of the donations made by their members. The rest of the money is then transferred to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada. For example, on their 2009 filing, the Lethbridge 12th ward received $558, 729 in donations from their members. $1,740 was then spent on “office supplies,” $33,062 was spent on “all purchased supplies and assets,”, and $32,513 was spent on “other” which is later explained as being spent on “assistance to the poor and needy.” Further down on their filing, $492,942 of the member donation money is given to a “qualified donee” which isn’t specified, but we can assume it went to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada. 2) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada received $69,089,700 from “non-arm’s length parties,” again, presumably from the branches of the church throughout the country. 3) In 2009, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada gave $40,000,000 to BYU Provo. In other words, 57.9% of the money received from “non arms-length parties” that year. Here is the Form T1236(09) that shows the transfer to BYU. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/sr... 4) Compensation. In 2009, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada had 248 part-time workers who earned a total of $1,807,140 for the collective. They also had 184 full-time workers who split a total of $15,237,479, of those full-time workers, two of them made between $80,000 – $119,999; six of them made between $120,000 – $159,999; and two others made between $160,000 – $199,999. Interesting stuff, isn’t it? The T3030 return quoted in this document can be found here. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/sr... http://harrisonames.com/?p=37 |