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SCAR Bulletin No 133, April 1999

Report of the XXV SCAR Finance Committee

Members: R Schlich, Chairman (France), J Valencia (Chile), A D M Walker (South Africa), G Kleinschmidt (Germany), M U Moskalevsky (Russia)

1. Dr D J Drewry has resigned from the Standing Finance Committee. Dr A D M Walker was appointed as the new member of the committee.

2. The Standing Finance Committee was augmented by the appointment of Dr G Kleinschmidt and Dr M U Moskalevsky to form the XXV SCAR Finance Committee.

3. The XXV SCAR Finance Committee met three times; on Monday 27 July at lunch time, on Tuesday 28 July between 1830 and 2045, and on Wednesday 29 July at noon.

4. The Finance Committee reviewed the SCAR budgets and statements of income and expenditure for the years ending 31 December 1996 and 1997 and found them to be in order.

The 1996 budget was set at $ 327,000; the income of $ 318,282 was close to the anticipated figure, but the expenditure was smaller than expected ($ 259,245), leaving an excess of income over expenditure of about $ 59,000. For 1997 the budget was set at $ 330,000; the income and expenditure were both smaller than expected, giving an excess of income over expenditure of about $ 36,000. For the two fiscal (calendar) years the total income was $ 613,076 and the total expenditure was only $ 518,212, leaving a positive balance of $ 94,864 and an accumulated balance at 31 December 1997 of $ 421,843.

Arrears in the amount of $ 77,673 were recovered during this period of two years and some funds, allocated to scientific activities in 1996 and 1997, were not spent. This explains the positive accumulated balance on 31 December 1997.

The Finance Committee proposed that part of this money should be used to increase the 1999 and 2000 allocation to scientific activities but wished to maintain a positive balance representing some 50 % of the total annual income; this would take into account late recovery of arrears in national contributions and would produce some additional funds by accumulating bank interest.

5. The Finance Committee reviewed the 1998 SCAR budget adopted at the XXIV SCAR meeting in Cambridge. Adjustments, relating to the Group of Specialists on Southern Ocean Ecology, the Working Group on Solar-Terrestrial and Astrophysical Research, and the IASC/SCAR International Symposium on Polar Aspects of Global Change, were decided by the Executive Committee at its meeting in Cape Town, August 1997, and have been taken into account. The corresponding increase in expenditure of $ 20,000 has been taken from the contingencies.

6. Six applications to support SCAR annual needs and sixty-five applications to support SCAR scientific activities were received and reviewed by the XXV SCAR Finance Committee. Priority was given, on the one hand, to those costs essential to SCAR needs in operating and fulfilling its obligations as a member body of ICSU, and on the other hand, to support well-documented applications for scientific activities.

7. The SCAR annual needs to run the Secretariat office in Cambridge represent, for both fiscal years (1999 and 2000), a total of $ 335,000. The Committee noted a significant increase of about $ 30,000 per year, compared to the two previous years. These additional expenses are explained by increased salaries for the Executive Secretary and the newly recruited administrative assistant (+ $ 20,000) and by an increase of about $ 10,000 for travel expenses.

The Finance Committee recommended for 1999 an allocation of $ 163,000 ($ 40,000 for routine meetings, $ 18,000 for publication costs, and $ 105,000 for administrative expenses) and for 2000 an allocation of $ 168,000 ($ 40,000 for routine meetings, $ 18,000 for publication costs, and $ 110,000 for administrative expenses).

8. The requests for scientific activities represent, for both fiscal years (1999 and 2000), a total of $ 537,100; compared to the two previous years this corresponds to an increase of about 22 %. The XXV SCAR Finance Committee, after careful evaluation, recommended for 1999 an allocation of $ 209,300 and for 2000 an allocation of $ 196,300. Compared to 1997 and 1998 the total allocation for scientific activities has been raised for the second time by some 15 %. These increases have been made possible by drawing on SCAR funding reserves and by keeping the contingencies to a minimum.

A summary of the SCAR funding requests, with the proposed allocations, is given for 1999 and 2000 for each Working Group, Group of Specialists, committee or subcommittee. For some projects, identified by a number in the last column, a carry over from previous year(s) has been accepted; these carry overs are specified at the bottom of the summary tables.

8. Taking into account the new scheme of categories adopted in 1995 and the choice made by the different member countries, the total SCAR yearly income should be close to $ 320,000 for the two coming years.

9. Considering the accumulated balance on 31 December 1997, the XXV SCAR Finance Committee recommended maintaining the national contributions for 1999 and 2000 at the same level as now. If the scientific and administrative needs continue to increase it will become necessary to reconsider the level of the national contributions at a future meeting.

7. A provisional balanced SCAR budget for 1999 ($ 390,000) and 2000 ($ 380,000), taking all the constraints into account, was proposed.

8. The Finance Committee noted that several members have never paid their annual contributions and that some other members have serious arrears. As agreed by Delegates at XXIV SCAR, the Finance Committee has established that, for the years 1992 to 1996, the list of members in arrears is as follows:

The SCAR Executive should write to these members to remind them of their obligations; it is also recalled that those members in arrears for 3 years should be asked to withdraw from membership of SCAR.