Description of the New Fee Payment System for the CDS, and how it may impact the current discussion regarding citizenship.
The new monthly fee payment system, now being tested in the SLNE sims, is simply a box for each citizen, which during a certain period of the month accepts payments for their fee. After the fee is paid, and during the dormant period of the month, the box simply indicates that no money is due at this time.
Once in place, all citizens will be required to use this payment method. Paypal payments will no longer be accepted, nor will any payments other than for the month to which they apply.
The boxes will be all owned by Rudeen Edo (or whoever is Treasurer). Each is programmed to respond only to the person named on the front. Any other person cannot pay that box. Each is also programmed with the amount that that person owes, in US$. When the person touches the box, during the active period of the month, the box finds the current Linden exchange rate and uses that to calculate what the person owes. It will then accept payment of that exact amount only.
The big advantage of these boxes is that will emit reminder emails and IM's, dependent on the status of the person's payment, and the period of the month. They also provide a single and regular conduit of fee payments into the Treasurer's transactions. This will ease greatly the administrative burden of recording these. It will also make the citizen's life easier, since they will no longer need to cunsult the website for the current rate. The box will be up to date to the minute. 
For the purposes of administration, i suggest that boxes be set up separately in NFS and in CN, accepting only payments for that sim. They will all be in a central place in their sim. In NFS they will be in the deeds room in the Rathaus. In CN they will be in the tiny Temple of Athena/Minerva, which was traditionally the location of the City Treasury.
Of course, each box accepts payment from an individual. There is no provision for a payment from a "group". This means that group owned land payments must be organized to be paid by individuals.
This may have an impact on our on-going qualification for citizenship. This is not intended to be a proposal for that. I would only suggest that a system might be devised whereby every individual in a group be allocated a certain amount or share of that group's monthly fee. There is no reason to suggest that a group lose its land simply because one citizen does not pay. If one does not, a system might be put in place where, after a certain number of months, that person does lose her/his citizenship, at which point the payments for the group are re-allocated so as to cover the full payment due from their land. The question remains what to do about the missing money, but that question exists whether or not the payment applies to group land.
Sudane.....
