Second Sunday of Lent

03-08-2020Weekly ReflectionFr. Will Schmid

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As many of you know, I was born and raised in the state of Arizona, and I am the product of Catholic education. One of the blessings of living in the state of Arizona is how much our state values the many contributions made by Catholic Schools. As a result, twenty years ago the state of Arizona gave us an unprecedented opportunity to redirect our state tax liability directly to our Catholic School instead of it going into the state’s general fund. This is a HUGE benefit for Arizona residents, especially families living in Flagstaff. As you all know, the cost of living here is higher than other places, and it can be difficult to make Catholic education affordable for our children.

One of the challenges of administrating a parish, especially one with a school, is ensuring a balanced budget. Most parishes with schools have to subsidize the important ministry of the parish school in order to make Catholic education available and affordable for their families. In this way, San Francisco de Asis is no different than most of our Catholic Churches with schools. Arizona’s tax liability redirection is an incredible gift that benefits our school, our parish, and the city of Flagstaff. Families filing jointly can redirect up to $2200 and individuals more than $1100 of their state tax liability each year to our Catholic school, keeping our tax money here in Flagstaff, ensuring affordable Catholic education for our families, and reducing (possibly even eliminating) our parish’s need to subsidize one of our largest ministries. Eliminating our parish’s need to subsidize our school would free up additional plate income to invest in other opportunities.  

CEA (also known as Catholic Education Arizona - which is in addition to and separate from the public school/charter tax credit program) is an organization that works with us on our state tax credit program. CEA has made it very easy and simple for us to redirect our tax liability to our school, without having to increase our weekly or annual financial tithe. In other words, with CEA, we don’t have to give an additional dollar more than we are already giving to greatly assist with our financial needs and responsibilities. All we have to do is opt to redirect some of our state tax liability to our school.

Currently, there are around 300 SFDA parishioners and additional corporations who regularly take advantage of this program. Their generosity provides us with over a half a million dollars each year to keep Arizona’s oldest Catholic school (ours) financially stable and affordable. You don’t even have to be a school family or have children in order to redirect your state tax liability to our school. Even I can participate in it.

Every year, right around tax time, I sit down with my financial advisor to go over my taxes, I figure out how much state tax liability I have, and I opt to redirect it on the CEA website. I put the amount I want to redirect on my credit card, and then the state of Arizona deposits that amount back into my bank account before I receive my credit card bill. In addition, like many of you, I have a credit card that earns me points. Thus, I gain points on my credit card while supporting our school! It is a great deal that benefits my city, school, parish, and myself. It’s a win-win across the board.

When you go home today, please prayerfully consider redirecting a portion of your state tax liability to our wonderful school. There is still time to redirect your state taxes. If every SFDA parishioner participated in Arizona’s tuition tax credit program each year, our kids would be able to attend our school tuition free. A tuition free Catholic school is not a dream. It is a serious possibility, but we need as many families as possible to be on board.

As in years past, representatives of the school will be reaching out to a number of you, one-on-one, to better explain the program and how your contribution can make a huge difference. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are ready and willing to answer any questions you might have. We want to make it easier than it already is. Thank you, and God bless. 

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Will