Subject: [Carolingia] [C-A] Non-Member Surcharge: Implementation Proposals for Carolingia Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 20:06:33 -0500 From: Lisa Goldthwaite <...> To: Carolingia <...> Greetings Carolingians! Below you will find a summary page of the proposals we will be voting on at January Council in regards to the Non-Member Surcharge. Please note that this summary has a few minor edits from the page distributed at Council and in this month's Minuscule. This is an official vote, which will be taken by ballot of the voting members of Council. A list of these officers appears on the back of the Liber. If you have questions regarding who has a vote, what constituency or constituencies you belong to, etc., please feel free to contact me off list. Questions regarding the proposals are welcome as well, and may be posed to myself or the NMS committee (Tibor of Rock Valley, Justin du Coeur, Alessandro the Storyteller). Please feel free to distribute this to other Carolingian lists, print and distribute to Carolingians, etc. There are many implementation details for each proposal to work out. After the voting, we will generate a list of acceptable proposals for autocrats to choose from. Details will be worked out as needed. If one of the more radical proposals (#7 and/or #8) are chosen, we will pursue a detailed proposal to be put to the full populace for polling, and implement other approved methods until the poll is complete. Also, proposal #2 requires a more detailed proposal to be put forth to the BOD for approval - if selected, other approved methods will be used until this process is complete. In service, Lady Eleanor Catlyng Seneschale, Barony of Carolingia, East Kingdom (Lisa A. Goldthwaite Wright) ... ------- Non-Member Surcharge Implementation Proposals for Carolingia Proposals #1-6: Approval voting for non-exclusive proposals. Vote for as many measures as you feel are acceptable for use. Two-thirds approval voting for acceptance as an option for use. More than one proposal may be accepted. 1. Collect the NMS exactly as specified ($3/non-member at the door). PROS: No problems with Kingdom or Board. Might be necessary for certain kinds of events (e.g., Kingdom). CONS: Philosophically supports NMS in full. Decreased event attendance. Decreased willingness of people to help run events. 2. Offer the Board some other sort of tithe (e.g., fixed amount or percentage per event.) If this proposal is accepted, any other approved 1-6 proposals will be implemented while #2 is investigated. PROS: Potentially , bookkeeping is easier than any NMS implementation. CONS: Money is still sent to corporation, though philosophically does not support NMS. Some people will object to being forced to subsidize the Board in order to attend events. Will need to officially petition the Board for approval of this method as an alternate to the NMS. . Board has rejected similar ideas put forth by the Grand Council. 3. Use donations /fundraisers to cover the NMS. PROS: Kingdom Exchequer thinks it's legal and has approved use of Baronial funds to cover difference if donations insufficient. The Board gets its money, so is unlikely to object. CONS: Money is still sent to corporation, though philosophically does not fully support NMS. Potentially adds bookkeeping complexity. May be difficult to find people to run ongoing fundraising or donations structure. Hasn't been officially approved of by the Board, so may become illegal later. 4. Raise all event fees by a set amount. PROS: Less overhead on the collection side (though still involves extra bookkeeping on the back end). CONS: Money is still sent to corporation, though philosophically does not fully support NMS. Some people will object to being forced to subsidize the NMS in order to attend events. Kingdom Exchequer recommends against. The Board has not approved, so may become illegal later. 5. Hold free/donations only events. Note that "free" can include a feast fee. Feast fee cannot be used to subsidize other non-feast related costs of event. PROS: Avoids NMS, but stays within the rules. Philosophically and practically does not support the NMS. Some Kingdom-level events can be made free, though this is difficult. CONS: For donations only events, we risk not taking in enough money to cover event costs. Income projections become uncertain. Some events cannot realistically be held as free or donation only. 6. Hold ³unofficial² events. These are events that do not get complete Pikestaff announcements. They may still be announced in the Minuscule, on the web, or any other venues we can come up with. They will still have insurance coverage. PROS: Avoids NMS, but stays within the rules. Philosophically and practically does not support the NMS. CONS: Not all events that we want to hold can be made unofficial, notably Royal Progress, Kingdom-level, and Known World Symposia. Can't officially hand out awards. May cut down on out-Barony attendees, and generally makes Carolingia more insular. Proposals #7-8: Due to the extremity of these positions and their political ramifications, three quarters approval voting for acceptance -- proposal will be placed before populace for a poll before being implemented. You may vote for these as well as any of options 1-6 as you see fit. Other approved proposals would be used while these options were investigated further and specific plans were polled. 7. Do not collect the NMS. Send no money to the Corporation. PROS: Philosophically a clear statement against the NMS. CONS: Significant possibility of being sanctioned by the Board or Kingdom. This could entail a wide variety of actions, ranging from a minimum of a warning through complete dissolution of the Barony and confiscation of its assets - all at the Board¹s or Kingdom¹s discretion. 8. Secede from the SCA, Inc. PROS: Philosophically a clear statement against the NMS. We would no longer be subject to the rules and regulations of the Corporation or the East Kingdom. CONS: A long-term plan that could not be implemented easily or quickly. More federal and local government paperwork. Much less interaction with the SCA at large. Probably a big expense, at least initially.