Al Andalus Finances.

[Rose Springvale]

While no one has asked me directly for quite a while, I understand there were implications made at the RA meeting yesterday regarding the financial status of Al Andalus.

Al Andalus is completely rented, except for Sacromonte, which will be rented next week, at which time Almunecar will not be rented.

You can see the rental rates and the totals on this spreadsheet, which i keep current and which is shared with the CDS Treasurer. I have made a copy of the spreadsheet for display herehttp://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... utput=html, removing the names of the individual owners. Sudane has the full sheet with owners names.

You can see that fully rented, the Al Andalus project brings in 234,391 L per month, or, using a 270 L conversion, about 901 USD
subtracting the 20,000L, or 76.22 rental rate for the unrented Sacromonte leaves about 825 usd income from the project on a monthly basis.

The cost of the Al Andalus project on a monthly basis, is as follows:

150 USD Al Andalus Alhambra
150 USD Al Andalus Generalife
150 USD Al Andalus Albaycin
150 USD Al Garnata
66.50 Al Andalus Sacromonte
66.50 Al Andalus Almunecar.
733 total

The only recurring event that AA has is the Joaquin Gustav concerts on Friday night for which we pay 5000L per show, or 20000 per month.(76.22)

Total tier cost plus entertainment=809.22

Tier is paid six or 12 months in advance for all sims. Many citizens in AA also prepay tier. CDS has prepaid tier (to Linden Labs) for all AA sims and collected all tier money (from citizens) since July 1, 2009. Cash flow may indeed show more money out than in on any given day, but provided collections are made, there should be no discrepancy over the term.

Hopefully this will dispel the idea that AA is losing money. If there are delinquencies, I've not been advised of such, and have not been asked as estate owner to repossess any land.

[Kaseido_Quandry]

Thank you. This was the sort of coherent information I was hoping for yesterday in the RA meeting. While contrary sentiments were expressed yesterday, I firmly believe that public, accurate and well-presented data is a superior basis for decisionmaking than opinion, hearsay, and supposition.

Go ahead, *call* me a logical positivist!

[Arria Perreault]

I cannot open the document.

[Rose Springvale]

it works for me. try again.

[Patroklus Murakami]

I can't open it either. Has it been made 'public'? [EDIT: I can open it now]

[Tor Karlsvalt]

I understand that Sudane is the Treasurer for CDS. No doubt she would have the most information with regard to CDS finances and should be present when the RA discusses the budget. At the very least she should provide a current statement of finances for each individual SIM. A comparison between old and new estates really does no good. If both estates are looked at as only two entities rather than 11, how will the RA determine which SIMs are being supported by the CDS as a whole? (I note that until this past week, two of the six hamlets in Monastery were owned by Rudeen.) With this information, CDS can decide if maintaining lagging sims is in the best interest of the whole. It certainly could be he case that CDS as a whole is better for the inclusion of the Monastery or Sacramonte or any other sim.

Also, I don't see exceptions to in the law that prevents any resident from getting a delinquent message after one month. I am told also, that the notice is automatically sent. Thus it seems, under the law, these residents should have lost there parcel. In the town hall I attended when this matter was first raised, I got the impression that the parcels had been in delinquency for some time. That is also my impression from comments made by the Chancellor this past RA. She stated that some parcels were frequently several months delinquent and often never had tier paid if full.

During the last few RAs I have attended, citizenship has been an issue. As I understand it, CDS law does not allow citizens in arrears on tier to vote. Yet I do not know how the voter roles are maintained to ensure that only paid-in-full residents are allowed to vote. This should be transparent to all citizens. Consequently, there should be a public list of parcels that are in delinquency. As all citizens are really owners of the sims, all citizens have a right to know if any citizens are draining resources from the whole. Granted, anyone can forget or be unable to comply with tier payments when away from a home computer. Those circumstances must have been taken into account when the law was written as the law provides a month and a half for tier to be paid. (We probably need some way to pay tier in advance.)

Tor

[Tor Karlsvalt]

BTW, I can open the Al Andalus spreadsheet. If you could not open it, try it now.

[Sonja Strom]

Earlier the spreadsheet would not open for me either, but now it does.

[Patroklus Murakami]

This information is very helpful for considering these issues so I am grateful to Rose for posting this. I draw some different conclusions from the data though and I think there is good reason for some measure of concern.

What I take away from the figures is:

• * the maximum rental income from the AA estate is 901 USD
  * current income is about 825
  * tier plus recurring event is 810

I think there are other outgoings that ought to be considered though and so should the building of reserves to get us through tough times.

AA recently hosted the excellent Feria event. I was not able to take part due to RL commitments but I saw the tents and the notices and it clearly had a lot of enthusiastic volunteer support. This event, and others such as the RA Inaugural Ball and Oktoberfest, rely on a lot of volunteer effort but they also cost money. Sonja told us at the last RA meeting that the events budget is now L$ 38k per month. We need to include AAs share of that bill in any reckoning of expenditure. There are also the salaries for CDS public officials who act as caretakers, public information officers, RA archivist etc (though this is 7k per month at most and it's rare for them all to be paid/claimed).

The CDS puts away 15% of its income into reserves each month. This provides insurance against a 'rainy day' so that we can feel more sure we will make tier each month and keep the project going.

We should not assume that we will always have 100% occupancy even if that has been the experience to date. If we set tier rates so that we can comfortably pay tier with lower rates (we should consider 90% or 80% as distinct possibilities) then that provides us with more insurance against future risks.

I don't see any accounting for these components in the figures given so I think there is probably a case for increasing tier fees in the Al Andalus regions so that expenditure is covered and contributions made to the reserves. So this is not seen as 'picking on' Al Andalus it should probably be considered as part of a review of tier rates across the CDS.

The main issue I took away from the last RA meeting though is that we are currently paying 38k a month on event funding and having to dip into our reserves to pay for them and cover tier. I know that many CDS residents enjoy events and see them as worthwhile but the budget for them has increased dramatically in the last couple of years and it would appear that we are living beyond our means. Unpleasant though it may be, we have to look at making economies in this area of discretionary expenditure so that the future of the CDS is secure.

[Rose Springvale]

removed

[Tor Karlsvalt]

Have to say that I loved Feria and glad to have had at least a small part in making it a great event. I think the events are a great way for residents of the sim to work together and get to know each other in a productive and cooperative manner.

The CDS achievement of a self governing, citizen owned sim is a wonderful thing. However, most people don't LIVE to to to RA meetings. Those are obviously interesting. But government does not exist for government's sake. The preamble to the Amer. Constitution comes to mind. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Obviously, government is established to achieve something else besides government.

I say events are good for the community and that events attract people to the sim who may later own land and help to bind us all into common endeavors.

BTW, I have to note that when I was looking at land in CDS, Rose was the one I ALWAYS saw working to sell land. Nobody else. If there was one person in the sim working when I arrived, it was Rose.

So I have to say that if much of the land is purchased in CDS, Rose may deserve much of the credit. At least that was my experience. And probably this is everyone's experience. I got the impression that there was lots of vacant land prior to the end of last year.

Also I have to say, the biggest reserve CDS has is having people who work together and support each other.

But one more thing. I am one to enjoy watching the RA. (Call me crazy.) But I also feel that I felt most welcome during Oktoberfest. I think that was an event. So if your event cost you 40k that month, then you got it back these last two months when I paid tier. Not to mention I paid to months tier when I bought in So, I think most of you will agree that the 40K spent on Oktoberfest was worth it. (haha. I hope.)

Always glad to be a resident of AM with an ultra view of Al Garnata from my back door.

Tor

[Patroklus Murakami]

Oh dear. I thought I might incur some wrath for daring to analyse some figures and post some opinions. Oh well, so be it.

I'm afraid "visionary leadership" on its own does not get the bills paid. And as a citizen and as a legislator I consider it my responsibility to consider whether 'we' (the CDS as a whole) are paying our way.

I have presented my analysis of the data Rose has supplied. All I've got in return is accusations that I'm trying to push AA out the door (I'm not). And no real engagement with the points I have made about expenditure and reserves.

I don't agree that AA does not lose money. Because of the way that money is collected, it's not really possible to make that assessment until all fees have been collected and expenditure assessed. Based on the figures Rose has supplied, I would say that AA just about breaks even but has no contingency for lower occupancy rates or unexpected events or a plan for building reserves. I think that, whether or not AA remains within the CDS, those issues threaten long-term sustainability of the project and will have to be addressed at some point. I think it's better to address them sooner rather than later.

This is not intended as a mortal attack on Al Andalus. It's not even particularly harsh criticism. It's just normal, responsible consideration of financial issues. I don't particularly care if AA does make a loss and is being subsidised by the rest of the CDS. Provided it's a small loss, it's worth it to continue the merger, which I support now and have always supported. But we have to be clear about where the money comes from and where it goes and have rational conversations about it free from accusations and personal attacks.

[Rose Springvale]

removed

[Arria Perreault]

(I note that until this past week, two of the six hamlets in Monastery were owned by Rudeen.) With this information, CDS can decide if maintaining lagging sims is in the best interest of the whole. It certainly could be he case that CDS as a whole is better for the inclusion of the Monastery or Sacramonte or any other sim.
Tor

The Monastery did not cost a lot to CDS, if it costs any L$. First its purchased was financed by the selling of plots, including the two plots of the former parcel in AM. The Monastery itself is privately owned: it pays fees too. Then I have paid the fees of available parcels for 4 months (July-Sept 2009). All the parcels were sold at normal CDS price (as new land). They were all sold one first. Then two have been recently repossessed by Rudeen and put for sale. They were sold last week end again at normal CDS price. Now the sim has no availibility.
The fees are calculated for a LL tier of 125 US$, but we still pay 95 US$ for this sim.

[Soro Dagostino]

Oh dear. I thought I might incur some wrath for daring to analyse some figures and post some opinions. Oh well, so be it.

I'm afraid "visionary leadership" on its own does not get the bills paid. And as a citizen and as a legislator I consider it my responsibility to consider whether 'we' (the CDS as a whole) are paying our way.

I have presented my analysis of the data Rose has supplied. All I've got in return is accusations that I'm trying to push AA out the door (I'm not). And no real engagement with the points I have made about expenditure and reserves.

I don't agree that AA does not lose money. Because of the way that money is collected, it's not really possible to make that assessment until all fees have been collected and expenditure assessed. Based on the figures Rose has supplied, I would say that AA just about breaks even but has no contingency for lower occupancy rates or unexpected events or a plan for building reserves. I think that, whether or not AA remains within the CDS, those issues threaten long-term sustainability of the project and will have to be addressed at some point. I think it's better to address them sooner rather than later.

This is not intended as a mortal attack on Al Andalus. It's not even particularly harsh criticism. It's just normal, responsible consideration of financial issues. I don't particularly care if AA does make a loss and is being subsidised by the rest of the CDS. Provided it's a small loss, it's worth it to continue the merger, which I support now and have always supported. But we have to be clear about where the money comes from and where it goes and have rational conversations about it free from accusations and personal attacks.

Pat do you really believe your being "objective?" You seem to hate the idea that AA might just be more of a well run group of sims than CDS.