Where does my dues dollar go?

The MEA-MFT budget, adopted by elected delegates at the annual Representative Assembly, provides for various categories of spending in support of MEA-MFT's mission, which is to advocate on behalf of our members. For every dues dollar in the 2006-07 budget:

Staff = 58 cents: Not surprisingly, the largest area of expenditure is staff compensation. This pays the salary and benefits of our 11 excellent field consultants, who work with our locals to represent and advocate for our members.

It also pays for our six outstanding program staff in Member Rights, Communications, Research, Public Policy, Political Action, and Organizing. And it pays for our office support staff and management staff.

Operations = 11 cents: Maintains and operates our five statewide offices (Helena, Missoula, Great Falls, Billings, and Glendive).

Governance = 7 cents: Pays the costs of our officers who represent MEA-MFT to the public, and our board of directors that sets policy for MEA-MFT.

Direct Local Support = 4 cents: Provides assistance to locals needing expert advice and locals with release-time presidents.

Professional Development = 3 cents: Supports professional programs such as the annual MEA-MFT Educators' Conference.

Legal Defense = 4 cents: Pays our attorneys to defend members in court when their rights have been violated.

Organizing = 2 cents: Permits us to make our union bigger and stronger by bringing in new members (who will also be new dues-payers to help share the load).

Training = 1 cent: Covers the costs of our member activities such as the statewide Summer Conference; Public Employee/Classified Conference; and local, state and national training conferences. (This is in addition to the cost of our staff trainers, included under Staff above.)

Legislative = 2 cents: Includes direct expenses connected with lobbying the state legislature on behalf of our members. (This is in addition to the cost of our staff lobbyists, included in Staff, and our President/Chief Lobbyist, also included in Governance.)

AFL-CIO per capita = 4 cents: Supports the statewide and national activities of the labor movement.

Capital Expenditures = 2 cents: Helps us replace equipment and improve buildings.

Contingency = 2%: Required by MEA-MFT policy for unanticipated needs.

A note on income: Most of our income (82%) comes directly from MEA-MFT dues. 14% of our income comes as rebates from NEA and AFT. (This is regular income. Special assistance such as funding to fight bad ballot issues is extra.)

The remaining 4% comes from other sources (interest earned on our reserves, MUST sponsorship fees, and conference registration fees).

A note on value: Members get a great deal of value from their dues dollar. And by taking advantage of special members-only deals, you can save far more than you pay in dues. Check out NEA and AFT member benefits. And use your MEA-MFT membership Access card.