Like every organization, SVS needs to balance needs with available resources. The money received for service provision must equal or exceed expense to provide these services. The $65,000,000 annual budget of the organization is sometimes under strain. The agency's portfolio of several million dollars of investments, however, somewhat alleviates this strain.
The investment recommendations made over the past 32 years by Dr. Dawson have been to the agency's considerable benefit. These investments include commercial and residential income property as well as equity and fixed income assets. They have added considerably to the financial strength of SVS. The retained earnings of SVS (accumulated profits on principally investments) exceed the total amount of salary paid to Dr. Dawson since he founded the organization in 1977.
The organization has responded to identified needs for new types of services and new geographic areas and has, crucially, kept overall administrative costs much lower than that of other services providers. This means that, because of economies of scale, a much larger percentage of purchase of service dollars in relation to other service providers, is spent at the point of service delivery.
Since its founding in 1977, SVS has encountered several financial challenges. Dr. Dawson has frequently acted as the lender of last resort, providing the company with working capital when it was not deemed to be credit worthy by banks and other financial institutions. In 2009 Dawson personally guaranteed an emergency standby 2 million dollar credit line in anticipation of state budget delays during early fiscal 2010-2011.
Dr. Dawson has also provided the organization with several million dollars in donations of cash and assets over the history of SVS including a $500,000 asset donation in 2009.
The past year has had its challenges. The Department of Developmental Services, the Department of Rehabilitation and Regional Centers have done their best to shield individuals with developmental disabilities from the full impact of the financial crisis. However, SVS, as other organizations, has had to absorb significant rate cuts. We have responded by judicious expenditures of our reserves and sometimes painful reorganization. In addition to other measures, hourly employees have had their work time reduced and administrative staff have absorbed an 8% pay cut. The pay of senior management has been reduced by 16%. Despite our challenges we have managed to protect programs from the full effect of the cuts. We feel confident in our abilty to continue to do so as we move forward toward a healthier economic climate.