Annual Report 2022
- Agenda
- Annual Meeting 2021 Minutes
- Statements of Income
- Statements Of Financial Condition
- Chairman’s Report 2022
- Treasurer’s Report 2022
- Supervisory Committee’s Report 2022
- President’s Report 2022
Annual Meeting Agenda May 25, 2022 6:00 P.M
Call to Order – Chairman
Certification of Quorum
Approval of the Minutes of the 2021 Annual Meeting
Annual Report of Officers
- Chairman
- Treasurer
- President
- Supervisory Committee
Old Business
New Business
- Certification of Election Results
Candidates: Jerome LoMonte, Mark Schwefringhaus - Presentation of Service Award
Sheryl Perez 20 Years
Peter Nalaskowski 15 Year
Izabela Kim 15 Years
Bart Rydzewski 10 Years
Member Forum
Adjournment
Annual Meeting 2021 Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by Chairman Robert Morrison. Secretary Anthony Sofo certified that the required quorum from the membership was in attendance. The meeting agenda was as follows:
- Approval of the minutes from the 2020 Annual Meeting
- Annual Reports
- Old Business
- New Business
- Certification of Election Results
- Presentation of Service Awards
- Member Forum
- Adjournment
The minutes of the 2020 Annual Meeting were distributed to the members for review. Chairman Morrison proceeded to asked if there were any corrections to the minutes. Norma LoMonte motioned to approve the minutes and seconded by Monica Duffy. It was unanimously approved by the membership.
A condensed version of the Financial Statements was included in the Annual Report. The Credit Union moved away from obtaining an Opinion Audit as it has never been a requirement for our asset size Credit Union. The financial information for 2019 was part of an Opinion audit. The financials for 2020 fell under a Supervisory Audit conducted by Wojeski & Co.
The following officer reports were included in the Annual Meeting package:
- Chairman, Robert Morrison
- Treasurer, Monica Duffy
- Supervisory Committee Chairman, Thomas Amato
- President, Peter Nalaskowski
There was no old business to report
Election Results
There were three candidates for the three available seats to the Board. Secretary Anthony Sofo cast a single vote for each candidate and Robert Morrison, Monica Duffy and Jerome LoMonte were elected. Robert Morrison and Monica Duffy will serve three-year terms and Jerome LoMonte will serve the remainder of the term for a vacated position. All accepted.
Service Awards:
Chairman Morrison asked Vice Chairman Mark Schwefringhaus to present the Service Awards to the following staff:
- Rorie Veluya 35 years
- Julia Coleman 5 years
Closing Remarks:
Chairman Morrison remarked that the Credit Union made it through a bad year and thanked everyone for keeping the operations running as smoothly as it had under difficult conditions.
Adjournment:
There being no additional business to come before the membership. A motion was made by Norma LoMonte to adjourn the meeting and seconded by Linda Sofo. It was unanimously approved by the members. The meeting adjourned at 6:25PM
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Statement of Income
Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 20202021
2020
INTEREST INCOME Interest on Loans $1,059,6830 $1,243,800 Interest on Investments 677,261 779,625 TOTAL INTEREST INCOME 1,736,944 2,023,425 INTEREST EXPENSE Dividends on Members’ Share Accounts 238,824 397,844 NET INTEREST INCOME 1,498,120 1,625,581 PROVISION FOR (recovery of) LOAN LOSSES 772,000 35,996 NET INTEREST INCOME AFTER PROVISION FOR LOAN LOSSES 726,120 1,589,585 FEE AND OTHER OPERATING INCOME 335,057 308,146 NON-INTEREST EXPENSE Compensation and Benefits 733,247 1,038,803 Office Occupancy and Operations 810,647 792,022 Professional Fees 76,463 81,483 Publicity and Promotion 22,545 38,495 Loan Servicing 8,558 14,880 Travel and conference 3,978 8,667 Other 75,925 45,339 TOTAL NON-INTEREST EXPENSE 1,731,363 2,019,689 NON-OPERATING EXPENSE Net non-operating Income(Expense) 434,245 (75,168) NET INCOME(LOSS) ($235,941) ($197,127) Statement Of Financial Condition
Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 20202021
2020
ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents $7,366,231 $15,243,206 Certificates of Deposit 23,589,849 27,940,344 Investment Securities – held to maturity 33,217,905 13,275,000 Investment Securities -available for sale 0 0 Investments in Credit Union Service Organizations 247,402 249,979 Loans Receivable, net 23,434,626 29,542,075 Accrued Interest Receivable 200,321 200,742 Furniture and Equipment, net 44,646 54,334 NCUSIF Deposit 761,333 711,952 Member Capital Share Deposit 80,594 80,594 Prepaid Expenses and Other Assets 1,863,585 1,315,531 TOTAL ASSETS $90,806,492 $88,613,757 LIABILITIES AND MEMBER’S EQUITY LIABILITIES Members’ Shares $82,522,385 $79,610,892 Accrued Expenses and Other Liabilities 316,238 1,061,933 TOTAL LIABILITIES 82,838,623 80,672,826 Members’ Equity, Substantially Restricted 7,967,869 7,940,931 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND MEMBERS EQUITY $90,806,492 $88,613,757
Chairman’s Report 2022
In last year’s Report, I noted that “Optimism is in the air”, as indeed it appeared we were on the way to putting Covid behind us. Anyone who wanted to be vaccinated could get it, and many millions did. Lockdowns and mask mandates were easing and business, travel, and other activities started to re-open. I closed that Report with “As 2021 continues to improve, we can once again savor our family and friends, events and celebrations, restaurants and travel and everything that was taken away in 2020. In memory of those we lost, let’s make the most of it.”
Then 2021 threw a curveball. Covid wasn’t done. Variant after variant caused record cases. Everyone knew someone who caught it or was exposed to some version, and the illness, rarely fatal now, still ruined the hoped-for normalcy, particularly, it seemed during the holidays, with so much pent-up expectation.
Mandates and restrictions became as much political as medical, to many minds, and New York and NY City never seemed to get untracked. Masks for employees in NYC businesses continued into the second quarter of 2022.
Metro Credit Union had the same kind of curve-ball year. Early optimism that the miserable financial year of 2020/Covid was behind us didn’t pan out as we hoped. Continued record low interest rates meant continued low operating income, and belt tightening can only go so far. Some one-time non-operating income helped ease the crunch, but in the end, we decided to use those funds to offset other non-performing loans. A very mixed, difficult, and disappointing year, with assets rising slightly. Please see our Treasurer’s Report for more information.
The economic shock of Covid was the impetus behind the Fed’s record low interest rates, and that may have helped cause the current high inflation. Metro’s bottom line will improve as rates get back to normal, but we’re not there yet. Rates are rising quickly and nobody knows where the Fed will ultimately decide to stop. Rising energy prices, a war in Ukraine, supply chain shortages, etc., means a lot going on to temper any optimism, though Covid may have finally passed on to being something akin to a bad flu, with precautions, not lockdowns.
2021 was not the recovery year we hoped for. We look forward to a much better 2022. I want to thank our staff, management, and volunteers for their dedication and diligence as we put 2020 and 2021 behind us and work to get back to normal.
Sincerely,
Robert G. Morrison
Chairman
Treasurer’s Report 2022
Last year’s Annual Meeting took place during the early stages of the nation’s recovery. We had reported a $197k loss for the year-ended 2020 driven by the drop in investment yields after the Federal Reserve decreased rates to zero in March of 2020 and the Pandemic all but shut down the economy. We were cautiously optimistic and hopeful for a recovery in 2021.
With the Credit Union’s 2020 cost cutting measures in place for 2021 we also expected interest rates to rise with the nation’s economic recovery. In addition, our regulator, the NCUA, announced that they would be returning the lost capital investment from the financial collapse of 2008 & 2009 where the assets of our Corporate Credit Union, Members United, were taken over and managed to profitability. Our investment in the Corporate were reported as losses to our bottom line ten years ago and would now be returned. This non-operating income of $410k was an unexpected shot in the arm towards our financial rebounding.
Unfortunately, rates and yields did not turn around. With all of the government subsidies and incentives to individuals and small businesses, the economy was very slow to recover. The travel and hospitality industries were hard hit and the collateral damage devastated the Taxi Medallion industry.
This once very profitable and very secure asset had met its housing market Waterloo. Their years of profitability and rising values left them overvalued while battling with the upstart ride-share companies and then receiving a knockout blow from COVID. Greater Metro has always taken a conservative approach to the related loans in our portfolio by properly reserving for their drop in values, but by the end of 2021, the Credit Union decided it was prudent to further reduce their values. Reserving for the values resulted in a bottom-line loss of $236k for 2021.
I share with you my positive outlook for 2022 and thereafter. Our consecutive year losses still had our Net Worth Ratios at 10.1% and 9.6% for 2020 and 2021, respectively. This ratio is the benchmark for safety and soundness where a ratio of 7% is considered well-capitalized. Member deposits and credit union assets increased between 2020 and 2021 from $79.6mm and $88.6mm to $82.5mm and $90.8mm. As of this meeting date, deposits and assets have further risen to $85mm and $93.5mm and we are profitable. The Federal Reserve began its rate increases to curb inflation which are projected to continue throughout the year. This will increase our investment and variable rate loan income. Member confidence and projected higher income while controlling expenses is certainly a recipe for optimism.
The enclosed financial results are prepared by Management and reviewed by our independent accounting firm and the Board of Directors are confident in the accuracy and adequacy of the reported results for 2021.
I am confident that we have turned the corner and look forward to returned growth and profitability and providing our continued committed service to our loyal membership.
Should you have any questions, please contact me at mduffy@greatermetrofcu.org
Respectfully,
Monica Duffy
Treasurer/Chairperson Asset Liability Committee
Report of the Supervisory Committee
The Credit Union Supervisory Committee consists of volunteer members appointed by the Board of Directors. The Supervisory Committee acts as a link between the board, management, and the membership. Any member who feels that their concerns are not being appropriately addressed, may escalate them to the Committee. In 2021 the volunteers were Thomas Amato, the Chairman, Thomas McCarthy, Andrea Nelson, John Forster and Vincent D’Agostino.
Once appointed by the Board of Directors, this Committee acts independently of the Board and carries out its oversight duties on behalf of the membership. In addition to providing a link to the members, the Supervisory Committee engages the public accounting firm of Wojeski & Co.to conduct an annual Supervisory Audit reviewing the Credit Union’s staff and management’s adherence to policies, practices and procedures as set forth by the Board of Directors and compliant to the Rules and Regulations as set by our regulator, the NCUA (“The National Credit Union Administration”). This review is comprehensive and incudes a review of the financial reports
Therefore, included in this Annual Report are the financial reports as prepared by Management. The Supervisory Committee is satisfied with their accuracy and adequacy and believe they fairly present the financial results for 2021. They are presented with a comparison to the 2020 results.
The Supervisory Committee is established to serve all members, and to respond to any concerns or questions that may arise. The Committee may be independently contacted at:
Supervisory Committee
Greater Metro Federal Credit Union
31-10 37th Avenue, Suite 403
Long Island City, New York 11101An email address is also available for members to contact the Supervisory Committee to voice any concerns or complaints. The address is: supervisorycommittee@www.greatermetrofcu.org
Thomas Amato
Chairman
President’s Report – 2022
At last year’s Annual Meeting we thought the nation was on its way to recovery. In many respects it was, but the areas that Greater Metro had its optimism based upon lagged behind and resulted in some disappointment as we ended 2021. The Federal Reserve kept rates low and the Taxi Medallion industry continued to flounder. These two factors figured prominently in our reporting of a loss of $237k for 2021.
At the beginning of 2022, projections of when the Federal Reserve would begin raising rates were still out to 2023, but they changed course and launched themselves into a planned rate raising frenzy to curb inflation. That doesn’t sound too positive, especially for borrowers and prospective home buyers, but it should have a positive impact for our Credit Union. This year and next, we should be taking advantage of higher rates on investments and loans. There has also been movement on the Taxi Medallion front which could reverse some prior year negatives.
Even though we were able to upgrade our Mobile App and Remote Deposit Capture features and our online banking platform underwent a re-design, necessary cost vigilance put other planned enhancements on the shelf. Returning to profitability will allow us to get back on track to provide our members with better products and features. What hasn’t suffered, was the continued commitment to serve our members and I believe we prove that every day.
Your Board of Directors, Volunteers, Management and Staff continue to serve as always. We are very optimistic for a financially successful 2022. That success will be passed to our loyal membership who we wish all of the best in health, safety and financial wellness.
Peter Nalaskowski
President & CEO