Cyberspace Communications finances for July 2005

Aug 2 15:30 UTC 2005

Here is the treasurer's report on Cyberspace Communications, Inc. finances 
through July 31st, 2005

Beginning Balance     $3,404.79

Credits                 $216.00         Member contributions
                          $0.98         Interest on our savings account
                   ------------
                        $216.98

Debits                  $100.00         Provide Net colocation (thru 8/22/05)
                         $46.24         Phone Bill
                          $6.27         Paypal fees (income = $150)
                         $94.38         Summer personal property taxes
                   ------------
                        $246.89

Ending Balance        $3,374.88

Our current balance breaks down as follows:

$3,200.89               General Fund
  $173.99               Silly Hat Fund

The money is distributed like this:

$1,478.25   Checking account
$1,896.63   Savings account earning 0.55% interest annually

We had two new members in July (oloryn and robfitz).  We are currently at 68 
members, 54 of whom are paid through at least August 15th.  (The others 
expired recently and are in a grace period.)

Notes:

- Grex is still paying personal property taxes from when we were in the 
Pumpkin in Ann Arbor.  Most of that bill comes in the summer.  We'll get one 
smaller bill next winter, and after that we should be done.

Thanks to everyone who contributed in July:

charcat, muthu, oloryn, robfitz, vanloons, and wh.  Thanks!

If you or your institution would like to become a member of Grex, it 
only costs $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.  We can't add you to the rolls without ID.  (If you pay 
with a personal check that has your name pre-printed on it, we 
consider that a good enough ID.)  Type !support or see 
http://www.cyberspace.org/member.html for more info.

response 2 of 29:

Aug 2 19:14 UTC 2005

Why will grex be "done" with personal property taxes?

response 4 of 29:

Aug 2 22:23 UTC 2005

Grex moved from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti, so we will no longer owe taxes to
the city of Ann Arbor, as of next year.  (Since we weren't out before
January 1st of this year, we still owe taxes for 2005.)

Now Ypsilanti may decide to collect taxes at some point; we'll cross that
bridge when we come to it.  But in the process of moving, we got rid of most
of our junk, so paying in the future will be a lot easier than it is now.

response 6 of 29:

Aug 3 03:50 UTC 2005

http://www.fatchicksinpartyhats.com

response 8 of 29:

Aug 3 17:41 UTC 2005

Re #5: Many years ago, we were at a board meeting, discussing having a
fundraiser for Grex.  At one point in the discussion, someone apparently
said, "Maybe we should also encourage people to send in plain old donations,
which can be used for anything, up to and including silly hats", or
something like that.  I say "apparently", because I must have been
distracted, since I didn't remember hearing that later.

At the end of the meeting, Peter Riley (nestene) came up to me, gave me $5,
and said, "This is for the Silly Hat Fund".  Being a relatively new
treasurer, I figured this was just something people did, so I dutifully
created a line item for the Silly Hat Fund, and put the $5 into it.

Over the years a number of people have donated to the fund.  Often donations
came as overpayments of dues, or as extra money collected to pay the bill at
a Grex lunch.  A few suggestions have been made for what to spend the money
on, but none that I remember.  I'm of the opinion that whatever we spend it
on, it should be frivolous and yet fun for everyone.

response 10 of 29:

Aug 3 18:49 UTC 2005

If people would release source code to some of those DOS doors, it wouldn't
be too hard to make it run, I don't think.

response 14 of 29:

Aug 23 13:08 UTC 2005

Grex should consider switching banks to one of the online bank.  They are
fully insuranced and tend to pay much higher rates on savings accounts.  Clark
Howard's web site says that ING Direct pays 2.6% and Emigrant.com pays 3.5%
Maybe put some of that savings into a 6 month CD?

response 16 of 29:

Aug 27 14:49 UTC 2005

No, that's about it.  We have some spare parts.

Re #14: I confess to being uncomfortable with online banks.

response 18 of 29:

Aug 29 16:52 UTC 2005

I've been satisfied with ING's service. Although, I'm not sure if
they're a full bank (with checking accounts, etc.).

response 20 of 29:

Sep 16 16:45 UTC 2005

There are other services made easier by a B&M bank, such as safe deposit
boxes, signature guarantees and notarization, ability to immediately
cash personal checks or get cashier's checks (can be important when
closing on a house or buying a used car from a private party),
withdrawing cash either in large quantities or in specific forms (e.g.
"I need rolls of quarters") or depositing cash (foolish to do either by
mail or at an ATM.)

Many people rarely need such services, of course, and that may include
Grex, but it can be nice to have them available.

response 22 of 29:

Sep 17 02:03 UTC 2005

Scared about theft, about loss, or what sending endorsed checks through
the mail?

From my perception of Grex's needs, i'd say to get one of those `for 
deposit only to acct. # 123456-78 at Last State Bancorp. by Cyberspace
Communications' rubber stamps and use Certified Mail.  A bit of hassle/
cost/overhead, but not much if it's only monthly, and USPS has several
"yet more secure" options if that's not safe enough.

This isn't to say that i favor switching to an online bank, though. 

response 24 of 29:

Sep 19 18:02 UTC 2005

It might not be.  3.5% interest versus 0.5% interest on $3500 isn't that much