Ratios are established at the forming of the Co-operative Venture. They are simply a percentage proportioning, attributed to the partners, of the monetary value of everything that was brought into the CV. Add them all (if there are more than two partners) and they should come up to 100. When I say everything, I mean everything regarded as of monetary value – this includes all real estate - all land and buildings – churches, halls, houses etc. It will include chattels if not included in the value of the buildings eg. AV and office equipment (photocopiers, computers and printers etc) – of course this will be valued at indemnity* value, not new. All property needs to be assessed by a registered valuer. Ratios will include all cash and investments that the churches are bringing into the CV. The partners will agree on the values each have brought into the venture, and the ratio is struck. This only becomes relevant at the point of dissolution of the CV – where everything is cashed up and the total is divided between the partners according to the ratio. Ratios can be adjusted by the adding or subtracting of resources. If a CV ‘inherits’ a partner property from a neighbouring parish, or disposes of a property to a partner (where no money changes hands), a valuation exercise is gone through (again, with registered valuers) and the ratio is adjusted and agreed by the partners.
Land Story - Kōrero Papatupu Whenua As part of the Methodist Church’s bi-cultural commitment, if the property is in Methodist title it will need a ‘Land Story’ before it can be offered for sale. The Methodist Church would encourage all church parishes, whether with a Methodist component or not, to do their own land story. Find out the land’s history – the chain of stewardship back to its original stewards. To do it well there can be quite a lot of work involved - it would ideally suit someone who loves doing research by digging into the past. I’ve seen some magnificent ones that have given great satisfaction to their authors. Again, it’s better to do this sooner rather than later. Follow this link for more information: https://www.methodist.org.nz/assets/Tangata/Property-Insurance/Bricks-and-Mortar/Bricks-and-Mortar-2nd-Edition-Section-8-June-2023.pdf
So often I hear expressions like “Oh, this is Methodist Property, or Presbyterian Property, or ……..” - you get the picture. What is being referred to is who holds title. I want to suggest (perhaps controversially for some) this is different from who owns it.
So, lets start with a thought experiment which will highlight the issue.
For simplicity, imagine an hypothetical Methodist Parish and Presbyterian Parish deciding to form a CV. They look at the two church properties they have, and have them valued. The Methodist Property is worth more than the Presbyterian property, and a ratio is struck at 60:40 in favour of the Methodist Church (I’ll deal with the issue of ratios next week). As they consider the properties – location, utility etc, they decide that the Presbyterian Property better suits their need, and the Methodist property is sold. Because it was a Presbyterian property it continues to be held in Presbyterian title – someone has to hold title. I want to suggest that this is simply an ‘Administrative Convenience’. Does this mean that the Presbyterian partner owns it? Yes, it does - 40% of it. And the ‘Methodist’ partner owns 60% of it – yet it is held on Presbyterian title.
The building properly ‘belongs’ to the CV, yet as CVs have no legal status (as far as I’m aware – this is invested in the Partner Churches) it is held, looked after, maintained, used, and loved by the CV – on behalf of the partner churches. This has implications legally – about who has power of decision, and relating to issues like insurance, seeking approvals for building related works, and applying for funding for such works. So, while the main authority/responsibility goes with whoever holds title, hopefully we can see that the issues of ownership are much broader, and require an understanding of how each CV got to be where it is. It also requires a commitment from the Partners to working together to secure the best future for the CV – irrespective of who holds title.