Here is the treasurer's report on Cyberspace Communications, Inc.
finances through September 30th, 1997.
Beginning Balance $4,655.52
Credits $786.00 Member contributions
$45.00 Auction proceeds
$50.00 ISDN Fund contributions
$63.00 Miscellaneous contribution
------------
$944.00
Debits $60.00 Pumpkin Rent for October
$83.00 Electricity for September
$20.00 Innovative Concepts phone line
$797.02 Phone Bill
$1,155.68 ISDN routers
$10.00 Michigan Corp. Info. Update
$5.77 Bank service charge
------------
$2,131.47
Ending Balance $3,468.05
Our current balance breaks down as follows:
$3,340.22 General fund
$60.00 UPS fund
$67.83 Silly Hat Fund
We had four new members in September (diznave, falcon1, qt314, and bigwalt).
We are currently at 100 members, 95 of whom are paid through at least October
15th. (The others expired recently and are in a grace period.)
This report is clearly dominated by the purchase of the ISDN routers and the
cost of installation of the ISDN lines. If it weren't for that, this would be
a pretty good month. All told, the routers cost $1155.68 and the installation
cost $336.97, for a total of $1492.65. The ISDN pledge drive has so far paid
for $795 of that, and I expect another $80-$90 to come in, so in the end about
$600 was paid out of the general fund.
Thanks to everyone who contributed in September:
aruba, bigwalt, birdlady, blh, bmoran, bruin, carl, coyote, dang, diznave,
eeyore, falcon1, font, gustitus, llanarth, mdw, n8rxs, njt, qt314, quail,
robh, sekari, shepherd, srw, steve, tao, tsty, and valerie.
Thanks!
If you or your institution would like to become a member of Grex, all it takes
is $6/month (or $60/year). Send money to:
Cyberspace Communications
P. O. Box 4432
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4432
If you pay by cash or money order, please include a photocopy of some form
of ID. I can't add you to the rolls without ID. (If you pay by personal
check, we consider that a good enough ID.) Type !support for more info.
26 responses total. This response has been erased.
Well, it's the second number (the number of "paid-up members", currently 95) that we really ought to pay attention to, since the number of current members depends to a certain extent on how behind I am at removing overdue people. But that number is up, too.
Howcum the phone bill is so high this month?
This response has been erased.
Here are the breakdowns of the phone bill for August and September.
The August bill is for August 4 through September 3.
The September bill is for September 4 through October 3.
August September
------ ---------
Monthly Service $272.58 $327.03
Local Calls $13.72 $11.54
Other Charges $73.32 $410.28
Long Distance $0.48 $0.00
911 Service $5.52 $5.52
Fed Tax $7.03 $15.53
State Tax $17.30 $27.12
------- -------
$389.95 $797.02
Our Monthly service went up by $54.45; that will be our continuing cost
for ISDN service. The "Other Charges" for this month break down like
this:
Centrex Installation Payment #8 $73.31
Line Connection Charge $42.00
Installation Charge $50.00
Installation Charge $225.00
Prorating for Aug 24-Sep 3 $19.97
($54.45 x 11/30)
-------
$410.28
I must say the taxes are puzzling; it looks like there's about $120 worth
of stuff that's being taxed by the feds but not the state, but I can't
make anything add up to that number.
This response has been erased.
I typically get 3 or 4 calls on my bill to places I don't call. They only add up to about 1 or 2 dollars per bill, so it's not worth my time to make the phone company take them off. I think this is a planned scam. No one can wait on hold for an hour each month to clear up 2 dollars of overbill, but $2 per person per month nets nicely.
Federal tax is 3% - state tax is 6% - total is 9%
how does grex have long distance calls on its bill when it doesnt have a long distance carrier>?
This response has been erased.
why does the astaff line have a long distance carrier in the first place?
This response has been erased.
#12..those occurrences cant be frequent enough to warrant having a carrier. Buy one of those $10 or $20 prepaid long distance calling cards and keep it next to the phone at the pumpkin. This would be better than having a long distance carrier, getting bugged by other long distance carriers .etc
Actually, not having a long distance carrier is one of the best ways I know to ensure lots of calls from all the long distance carriers. They simply cannot believe it's intentional.
Grex probably has long distance carriers on some of its modem lines and doesnt even know it!
As a user, I am not worried about .48 cents worth of ld calls. As I said in another item, I think staff is well balanced, prudent, and well deserving to make calls on the staff line. Cool it, richard.
It seesm to me that Valerie recently said that we had been inadvertently put on MCIs list of customers and that she was working with our representative to fix that. Ergo, we know it.
srw is correct in #8 about the tax rates; that's how they're reported on the bill. But between last month and this the federal tax went up $8.50 and the state tax went up $9.82, so clearly the feds are taxing something the state isn't. In August we had 35 local cals on the staff line (761-7541) and 131 on the link modem (761-8228). In September we had 137 calls on the link modem. Local calls cost $.0842 each.
Most long distance carriers charge considerably less to people who have them as their primary long distance carrier than to others who dial their access code. As long as we have a long distance carrier with no minimum charge, I's assume it would be better to have one.
This response has been erased.
why even pay $5 a month when you can get a calling card, tape it to the wallnext to the phone, that would probably last months if so few calls are made.
We certainly don't want to pay $5/month.
Re 20 - Given the staff's track record of making disk backups, I'd be shocked if they were any better about keeping fresh phone cards available. And I'd sure hate to be the staffer who desperately needed to make a call for an urgently needed part and find out that the card has been used up...
This response has been erased.
browse
Hi James! Welcome to Grex!
You have several choices: