What is causing the Conference budget to change in 2021?

There are a few changes to the budget for 2021 but the greatest driver by far is the change in funding for clergy retirement benefits.  The lines for Conference Claimant – Retiree Health and Past Service Liability are removed from the 2021 budget as both of those funding plans have met the funding goal.  This removes $5 million from the budget and, when combined with the 1.66% increase in General Conference apportionments and almost 1% increase in Annual Conference apportionments, results in a 22.85% reduction.