NB: The Budget (November 2016 - February 2017)

[Maxwell]

personally for budget tax numbers I'm actually more inclined to sign on with Mike's numbers - this is a region, not a nation. However, I might even sign on to something higher.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm not sure if Clyde's still working on this, but two weeks of no debate makes for an unhappy Scott.

(Also, you guys might want to consider extending the fiscal period.)

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I'm not sure if Clyde's still working on this, but two weeks of no debate makes for an unhappy Scott.

(Also, you guys might want to consider extending the fiscal period.)

Can this be done via motion?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

I'm not sure if Clyde's still working on this, but two weeks of no debate makes for an unhappy Scott.

(Also, you guys might want to consider extending the fiscal period.)

Can this be done via motion?

No, it just needs to an amendment.  Change it to January 2017 - April 2017 or something like that.

[Maxwell]

 

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48 hrs for debate or until the sponsor gives it the go ahead.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I'm down with it.

[JGibson]

I'm in support of budget.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

The amendment is accepted and the budget period is now February 2017 until May 2017. Due to the circumstances of our assembly makeup, I'm suspending all further debate on legislation until Maxwell's seat is filled. In the meantime, I would like to see numbers come in to see where we have shortcomings or surpluses.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

I'm resuming discussion of the budget. It is absolutely imperative that we get numbers in, so I'm going to PM Clyde to ask if he can assist us further. Here's what the budget looks like as of now:

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Just looking at the numbers for our spending, we may have to make some cuts. I'd like to know what gets classified as "other" and how we arrived at over 41 billion for that category. I'd also like to see how we could make cuts to general government, debt interest, and police/justice spending.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

We should just eliminate "other" outright if we're not even going to specify what that is - a rainy day fund?*  Booze and hookers?  What, exactly?

General government and police can probably take some modest cuts without having any serious disruptions in daily functions.

* Come to think of it, we could probably use a section of the budget for emergencies.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

We should just eliminate "other" outright if we're not even going to specify what that is - a rainy day fund?*  Booze and hookers?  What, exactly?

General government and police can probably take some modest cuts without having any serious disruptions in daily functions.

* Come to think of it, we could probably use a section of the budget for emergencies.

Setting up a $10 billion emergency fund would be fair in my mind. Cutting general govt to $20 billion and police/justice to $15 billion would be fine with me. That'd trim roughly $40 billion.

[Drew]

We should just eliminate "other" outright if we're not even going to specify what that is - a rainy day fund?*  Booze and hookers?  What, exactly?

General government and police can probably take some modest cuts without having any serious disruptions in daily functions.

* Come to think of it, we could probably use a section of the budget for emergencies.

Setting up a $10 billion emergency fund would be fair in my mind. Cutting general govt to $20 billion and police/justice to $15 billion would be fine with me. That'd trim roughly $40 billion.

I'm in support of creating a section for Emergency (i.e. natural disasters, etc.).  An 'Other' category to me is not very transparent.

[JGibson]

We should just eliminate "other" outright if we're not even going to specify what that is - a rainy day fund?*  Booze and hookers?  What, exactly?

General government and police can probably take some modest cuts without having any serious disruptions in daily functions.

* Come to think of it, we could probably use a section of the budget for emergencies.

Setting up a $10 billion emergency fund would be fair in my mind. Cutting general govt to $20 billion and police/justice to $15 billion would be fine with me. That'd trim roughly $40 billion.

I'm in support of creating a section for Emergency (i.e. natural disasters, etc.).  An 'Other' category to me is not very transparent.

Fair idea.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Here is an updated proposal:

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Without the tax revenue or the new automobile purchase tax accounted for, we're currently sitting at a deficit of $473.104 billion. We are not allowed to have a deficit.

[Drew]

Here is an updated proposal:

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Without the tax revenue or the new automobile purchase tax accounted for, we're currently sitting at a deficit of $473.104 billion. We are not allowed to have a deficit.

I suppose we should revisit this and open it to new ideas from both our new and returning members alike.  I think that we had fine-tuned many of the expense numbers, but the big hangup here was the uncertainty about income tax data.  I know that we had some input from our Senators, though one eventually went on LOA and we had some turnover with the Assembly over the last term. 

[Wells]

I've PMed Clyde about calculating the revenue from the income tax. I hope he'll be able to continue to provide us with numbers.

[Clyde1998]

I could probably, also, re-adjust some of the expenditure to give you a more detailed breakdown now that I've managed to find the last Northeastern budget. Upon finding that budget, I've adjusted some of the revenue figures that I've previously given you. These figures were based on real life state budgets, but the old Northeastern budget is probably more accurate.
Current Proposed Expenditure
$565,910,000,000 ($565.910 bn)
Income tax

Tax Band	Tax Rate	Revenue
$0-$24,999	0.00%	$0
$25,000-$49,999	0.20%	$3,294,769,814
$50,000-$99,999	0.75%	$7,044,750,560
$100,000-$249,999	3.00%	$13,074,800,308
$250,000-$999,999	7.50%	$18,336,872,678
$1,000,000+	12.25%	$9,157,772,887
TOTAL	---->	$50,881,966,247 ($50.882 bn)

Sales tax (2.00%)
$37,705,000,000 ($37.705 bn)

Cannabis Tax (10.00%)
$459,000,000 ($0.459 bn)

Property tax ($70 per mil on assessed value of unimproved land)
$489,674,751,204 ($489.675 bn)

Gas tax (70c per gallon)
$101,306,459,697 ($101.306 bn)

Diesel tax ($1 per gallon)
$25,442,002,308 ($25.442 bn)

New automobile purchase tax (by curb weight): $300 per thousand kilograms
$438,820,051 ($0.439 bn)
TOTAL
$688,663,404,140 ($688.663 bn)
NET BALANCE
+$122,753,404,140 (+$122.753 bn)

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

As long as this budget accounts for the states that were absorbed by the former Northeast during reset, it looks good to me, Clyde.

Make sure you guys change the dates for this since February is almost over.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

It's so nice to see this get resolved. Thanks, Clyde, for helping us out with this. You're the best!

[Clyde1998]

As long as this budget accounts for the states that were absorbed by the former Northeast during reset, it looks good to me, Clyde.

Make sure you guys change the dates for this since February is almost over.

Yeah. I've taken into account the increase in population.

It's so nice to see this get resolved. Thanks, Clyde, for helping us out with this. You're the best!

Thanks. It's great that it's come up with a healthy surplus as well, so you don't have to debate spending cuts.

[Drew]

Thank you Clyde!  It does appear that we have a healthy surplus.  Keep in mind that we enacted new programs and policies over the last term such as a new green business program and tax cuts for new residents.  The surplus should cover those policies.  So what would the new date range be, Mar-June 2017?  Any other thoughts/ideas from the Assembly?

[Lachi]

If we have the funds left over after the new programs are funded, I propose we allocate some funding to investigating high-speed rail.

[Drew]

If we have the funds left over after the new programs are funded, I propose we allocate some funding to investigating high-speed rail.

I would definitely support looking into a high speed rail plan for the region.  I will be happy to bring such legislation onto the floor.

[Lachi]

If we have the funds left over after the new programs are funded, I propose we allocate some funding to investigating high-speed rail.

I would definitely support looking into a high speed rail plan for the region.  I will be happy to bring such legislation onto the floor.

That would be well appreciated, thank you.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

If I might make a suggestion, perhaps the Assembly could also consider eliminating the sales tax, which tends to hurt poor and middle-class consumers the hardest.  That would still leave us with a hefty surplus of $85 billion.