Inflation wallops parishes and schools in Archdiocese of Baltimore

When St. Anthony of Padua Parish’s school building was actively leaking last year, a usually simple replacement project became a frustrating exercise in inflation and supply chain issues for the Baltimore church.

The process began as usual, with the archdiocesan facilities management office advising parish leaders as they hired an architect and engineer, and began looking for a contractor.

Three bids came back, all under $500,000, according to Nolan McCoy, archdiocesan director of facilities and real estate.

“It definitely had to be done,” said Father Ty S. Hullinger, pastor of St. Anthony, St. Dominic, and Most Precious Blood parishes.

The 70,000-square-foot Gardenville school building now houses a Baltimore City charter school, Baltimore International Academy. St. Anthony’s parochial school closed in 2005 but the building reopened that year in a merger of area Catholic schools known as the original Mother Lange School, which operated for five years. 

“That’s a massive roof project,” Father Hullinger said.

However, once financing and archdiocesan approvals were in place, the price had gone up to $905,000, McCoy said.

“We went to the other roofers. They said the exact same thing,” he said. “It put it so far out of what the parish could afford.”

“Everyone’s facing (inflation) but nonprofits are doubly affected,” Father Hullinger explained. “We don’t have the means to make it up.”

Instead of the roof they planned that would last 30-40 years, the parish went with a more affordable intermediate solution, an epoxy coating that would eliminate the leaks but last only 10-15 years.

Father Hullinger said the roofing costs are the most dramatic increase he’s seen as prices have risen. As a trustee for the North East Housing Initiative, a home-ownership initiative, he’s seen similar problems with rising costs and supply chain issues.

“It’s affecting every part of the economy,” Father Hullinger said. “It’s affecting everybody.”

The story is similar across the archdiocese whether funds are going toward construction projects or buying office supplies.

At Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Essex, inflation and supply issues have affected the classroom, offices and even the school buses, according to Lawrence S. Callahan, president.

Construction of a new wellness center was delayed by 12 weeks due to supply problems, he said. The rising costs of gasoline have hit the school’s buses, too. Students take school-sponsored buses to the Essex campus from all around the Beltway. Although tuition hasn’t exactly been affected, parents facing inflation issues of their own have had difficulty paying, according to Callahan. “We’re trying to be patient,” he said.

The supply chain delays have meant not getting football helmets or footballs in time for the first two fall games. Ketchup packets were impossible to get for a recent school festival. Wood ordered for the dance studio was also delayed. “We were on a long waiting list,” Callahan said.

“People don’t realize the impact it’s having on everything,” he said.

In Thurmont, Our Lady of Mount Carmel has had roofing issues of its own. A new roof was planned for the 1859 Gothic-style church, but McCoy said he doesn’t know when that roof will be done. Vendors can’t quote prices since there is such a backlog for supplies. 

“We were all prepared to get a new lead-coated copper roof,” said the pastor, Father J. Collin Poston.

Parish donations, special gifts and a benefactor gift have funded the project, he said.The parish wanted the highest quality roof possible for its church, a roof to last 100 years. They chose an expensive option, costing some $290,000. That also includes repairs to the water-damaged bell tower and refurbishment of a gold statue of Mary, according to Father Poston.

“My parish has been very generous,”  he said. “They want to see the church here for a long time. It’s inspiring.”

Getting necessary approvals, however, took time and after the two months it took to get them all, the contractor could no longer get the supplies. “All of the sudden, the prices are rising,” Father Poston said.

Copper prices, in fact, have skyrocketed. According to the commodities website tradingeconomics.com copper was $4.97 a pound March 7, but on Jan. 28 was $4.31.

The pastor is hoping the wait won’t be too much longer. “Over time, the longer you wait, infrastructure is weakening and damage is being done,” he said.

Father Poston said he’s bracing for higher costs. “And holding my rosary very tightly,” he said.

Prices on everything are up – from gasoline to office supplies to dog food for his dog Otto, he added. “We’ve had to watch carefully how we spend in the office,” Father Poston said.

McCoy in the archdiocesan facilities office says it’s a problem everywhere. He figures construction costs alone are up 25 percent from a year ago. 

The Office of Facilities and Real Estate Management handles capital construction projects valued at more than $50,000 for all parishes and school buildings, as well as any real estate transactions such as buying and selling or leasing buildings.

If a project is expected to cost more than $50,000, it needs the archbishop’s permission to proceed. McCoy’s office assigns project managers to help parishes and school boards plan and deal with the intricacies of capital projects.

McCoy said he is glad the new Mother Lange Catholic School in downtown Baltimore was built before the pandemic. It opened in the 2021-22 school year at a cost of $25 million.

“Thank heavens we locked that in,” he said.

If they hadn’t, McCoy estimates costs could have risen to $30 million or $35 million, judging from current inflation costs.

Anything that uses petroleum in its manufacture, including insulation, PVC piping or even PVC-coated electrical wire has been especially hard hit. Noting recent increases at the gas pump, McCoy said prices started rising more than a year ago when a storm knocked out power in Texas where petroleum is refined.

“Inflation is real,” McCoy said, adding that he has never before seen this kind of inflation. “It was a crescendo. It all kind of took off in June, July, August of last year.”

“Of course the pandemic was the genesis of the whole thing,” he said. “It’s manifested in very hyper inflation.”

Of particular worry is how this is affecting parishes in their offertory collections. Until this year, inflation for the past 10 years could easily be covered by offertory collections, he said. “What we’re seeing now is not normative.”

Exacerbating the problem, he said, is the pandemic’s effect on Mass attendance and offertory collections.

“Every year the increase is going to be more difficult to meet,” he said.“Giving is not increasing at 25 percent a year.”

What’s more, he noted, raising funds for maintenance – replacing roofs, windows or maintaining electric systems – doesn’t have the cachet of something new. “You’ve got to put the money in the buildings to keep them up.”

Planning for this kind of inflation is a challenge throughout the archdiocese, McCoy said.

“You need to start saving now,” he said.

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