Group Franchise Proposal

GROUP FRANCHISE

Motion as Voted Upon: The Grand Council recommends to the Board of Directors that the following proposal be considered as an alternate funding method:

"PREFACE: Our first priority should be to live within the means available, and belt-tightening as possible. In other words, avoid the problem entirely and avoid adding additional fees at all. A supplementary fee of any kind should ONLY be activated as an emergency measure when a significant budgetary shortfall is predicted. Should no shortfall actually occur, then no money should be collected. The concept is to spread the temporary burden of a shortfall across the SCA Inc. while giving local chapters plenty of time and options on how they want to collect it (which may include a local NMS). When the deficit crisis is over, any supplementary fee MUST be dropped, and not become a permanent feature of how the SCA Inc. acquires operating expenses.

INTRODUCTION: This proposal will be called, a "Territorial Levy." It is based on minimum populations of geopolitical units as delineated by Corpora, not actual membership nor population. Specifically, a Barony or Province would be treated as having a membership of 25 persons or more, and a Shire would be treated as having a membership of 5 persons or more. No other geopolitical units are involved in this proposal.

This proposal was originally designed to offer an alternative for the NMS to mitigate the $77,000 shortfall projected in the SCA 2002 budget. Unlike the SCA-wide NMS, the Franchise fee would give local branches a choice of how to collect necessary funds, and provide a Cap above which they would no longer have to pay.

This proposal is designed to create a new income source and to supplement but not replace current income mechanisms. The first variation was specifically crafted as an alternative to the Non-Member Surcharge. The second variation is adapted to work within a Membership-funding model (such as we have currently) or Non-membership funding model such as that proposed by Frederick of Holland. The Proposal uses specific fees as examples below. However in actual usage, the amounts will vary depending upon actual deficit amounts.

PROPOSED: "Territorial Levy"

The fees presented were derived from the $77,000 shortfall originally predicted by the Society Treasurer for 2002:

VARIATION 1:
Using a shortfall of $77,000 as an example amount to be mitigated the Levy would consist of:
$350 per year from Baronies/Provinces, internationally and
$ 70 per year from Shires internationally.
The Levy amount will be announced at least 9 months prior to the due date, and will be collected annually. If the shortfall drops substantially or is eliminated through other means, the SCA Inc. will either discount or waive the Levy for that year.

How I came up with the numbers:

1. I did a rough estimate of all Baronies/Provinces in the SCA excluding Lochac (128 US, 19 non-US, and 147 total); and of all Shires and incipient Shires (approximately 289 US, 78 non-US, and 367 total).
2. Using SCA published minimum membership requirements for each territorial unit (Barony/Province >= 25, and Shire >=5 members), I determined that they represented a statutory minimum population of approximately 5510 people.
3. Dividing $77,000 by 5500 people, I came up with $14.00.
4. Baronies = (25 X $14.00) = $350.00, and Shires = (5 X $14.00) = $70.00

VARIATION 2:
The Levy will be based total SCA Insurance Costs as a known budgetary line item to be paid by US-based geopolitical units only. Non-US units will be exempt if they cannot take advantage of US-based insurance.
Projected 2002 Insurance Cost: $72,561
$400 per year from SCA US Baronies and Provinces
$ 78 per year SCA US Shires
The Levy amount will be announced at least 9 months prior to the due date, and will be collected annually. If the shortfall drops substantially or is eliminated through other means, the SCA Inc. will either discount or waive the Levy for that year.

How I came up with the numbers:

1. I did a rough estimate of all US-based Baronies/Providences and of all Shires and incipient Shires (approximately 289 US groups).
2. Using SCA published minimum membership requirements for each territorial unit (Barony/Province >= 25, and Shire >= 5 members), I determined that they represented a statutory minimum population of approximately 4645 people.
3. Dividing $72,561 by 4645 people, I came up with $15.62.
4. Baronies = (25 X $16.00) = $400, and Shires = (5 X $16.00) = $80.00

JUSTIFICATION:

1. The Levy must be based on a confident figure such as a well-documented projected shortfall or budgetary line item. So used, the Levy allows for that portion of the total cost of the SCA budget, and is therefore a known quantity. Local groups will have the bulk of the fiscal year to generate the funds. The Levy also provides a Cap so that more active groups are not penalized for their greater activity.
2. The SCA is comprised predominately of three basic territorial units: Baronies, Shires and smaller units. Since Kingdoms and Principalities are collections of all these units, they are not separately charged. Likewise, Baronies and Shires include dependent collections of smaller units. Units under a Territorial Levy will be allowed local authority to generate the money needed by any means allowed by Corpora, including participation fees, surcharges, auctions and art sales, demos etc. This allows local groups to fund SCA operations in whatever way is most appropriate for them.
3. Since some base costs of the SCA are consistent and all groups share benefits equally and independently of activity levels, this proposal assures equal treatment for all groups of equal status. Also, since the Levy is based on minimum population, the Levy will not be an undue burden on smaller groups, and will be facilitated by the extra dispersion of the fee among members of larger groups.
4. [Variation #2 only] By charging only US groups for services enjoyed exclusively by US groups, the SCA cost recovery will be more fairly distributed.

WHAT IF GROUPS DON'T PAY?

The consequences of non-compliance are the same as those under ANY other funding scheme, including probation and possibility of downgraded group status. Exemptions can be made on a case-by-case basis dependent upon demonstrable need. Ultimately, the purpose of this proposal is to protect the financial stability of the SCA Inc., and not to unduly burden its component parts."