Bill 4-5 : Neualtenburg School

A Bill to establish an educational institution in the city of Neualtenburg

This bill establishes an educational institution with in the city operated by a city-private partnership.

Governance

The institution is governed by a self-selecting board of trustees. The Dean of the SC may appoint one member of this board as a representative of the city at his or her discretion.

Land

The land on which the institution sits (2410 and 2385 Urusulaweg)is held by the trustees. In exchange for a 20% discount on tuition to all Neualtenburg Citizens, the city will:

1) Waive the land fee.

2) Grant the institution an option on the adjacent lot at 2290 Urusulaweg and first right of refusal should the occupant at 2225 Sudanestrasse vacate.

Academic administration

Academic administration shall be appointed by the trustees.

I must express my disagreement with this clause of a proposal which I am in all other respects in passionate support of, and hope to help in everyway I can.

In the classic tradition of cities and towns which find their tax base eroded with the presence of too many tax-exempt institutions, Neualtenburg faces the same danger. Already, much of the sim is streets and roads. The Rathaus as well is an officially designated city building.

The museum, on the other hand, is scheduled to transition to becoming a parcel supported by the "interest-group" which operates it (if my memory of the bill passed is correct).

I have long advocated formation of a "board of trustees" for the church, as well; a group which would be responsible for raising the church's share of the land fee.

All land shared "in common", as city-owned, is necessarily supported by all the citizens through their payment of higher land fees than they otherwise would have to pay.

I would propose that this clause be discussed in terms as follows...

What institutions form the identity of Neualtenburg in such a way that all citizens must pay for them through higher land fees than they would otherwise have to pay?

Does Neualtenburg wish to place a premium on its monthly fees, raising them higher than in other areas of SL, in order to support a school, a museum, and/or a church?

Or, perhaps, does it make more sense for the citizens interested in those institutions to take advantage of the low land costs of Neualtenburg and support them thru trustee groups?

If, in fact, it is the decision of the community that everyone *must* participate implicitly in the support of these institutions, then, so be it. We can bear that burden. But, if when the issue is framed like this, people would rather prefer a more trim monthly fee, then the school, the museum and the church should be supported by groups which come together because they choose to support them.


Sudane

I'm not stuck on the land fee per se. My question is this:

The city has asked for a citizen discount, which the bill proposes as 20%. This discount will have a measurable, although not a predictable, economic impact on the institution. Given that the city does not own the land, and does not have to make a significant covenant exception to allow the enterprise, Neualtenburg would be essentially asking for land fee+ discount for the privilege of operating here.

The request for a land fee waiver was an attempt to have the city spell out, in a quantifiable way, what it would grant the institution in exchange for the tuition discount. I'm certainly open to something else, but without some sort of grant from the city, the School is being taxed at a higher rate than an identical, fully private enterprise.

How about instead of a land use fee waiver, the city set up a scholarship fund in its budget?