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Financial Policy

Last Revision: May 30, 2004
  1. Purpose/Scope/Maintenance of this Policy
    1. The Financial Policy of Highland Foorde is established to provide controls on the moneys possessed by the Barony of Highland Foorde. They will ensure our compliance with Kingdom and Society regulations, and keep the SCA Inc. within it's tax-exempt status.
    2. This policy shall be superceded by Kingdom Exchequer Policy, Kingdom Financial Policy, Kingdom Law, Society Exchequer Policy, Corpora, State, and Federal Law. If any discrepancies exist between this document, and any of those, the other documents have priority and the specific ruling within Highland Foorde policy shall be considered null and void.
    3. This policy can be amended at any point by a proposed change being made at a Baronial Meeting and following standard Baronial Voting procedures as defined for changes to Baronial Charter, as defined in the Baronial Charter.
  2. Formation of the Baronial Financial Committee
    1. The Baronial Financial Committee (hereafter referred to as the BFC) shall consist of 5 paid members of the Barony.
    2. The current Exchequer of the Barony, and current Baronial Seneschal are automatically members of this committee.
    3. The other three members of the Baronial Committee shall be elected from among the populace of Highland Foorde by the following manner:
      1. No two members of the BFC can live at the same physical address.
      2. The Baronial Herald may not serve on the BFC
      3. All terms shall end at the first Baronial Meeting of a new calendar year.
      4. There are no limits as to the number of consecutive terms that a member may serve.
      5. It is the responsibility of the Baronial Seneschal to ensure that the members of the committee retain their SCA membership during their term.
      6. Upon the first Baronial Meeting of a new calendar year, the voting shall occur as follows:
        1. Anyone wishing to run for the BFC positions shall make their desires known, and shall provide current proof of membership.
        2. All members of the populace in attendance shall be asked to write the names of the three candidates they feel best on paper, and for this paper to be passed to the Baronial Herald.
        3. The Baronial Herald will then tally the number of votes cast for each candidate. The three candidates with the most votes will be declared the new members of the BFC.
        4. In the case of ties all members who were unequivocally voted into the position shall be granted it, and removed from the potential candidate pool. The voting will then be repeated, this time with members only each casting as many votes as equal to the number of positions still left to fill.
    4. Procedure on removing a member of the BFC from position out of term.
      1. At any point two residents of Highland Foorde (as defined in the Charter) may call for a vote of no-confidence for any elected member of the BFC.
        1. The Seneschal and Exchequer can only be removed by removing them from office by the procedures defined by the Kingdom
      2. When a vote is called for, it will be conducted via standard Baronial Voting procedures.
      3. If a majority vote finds in favor of removing a candidate, that candidate will be barred from voting on any more financial issues brought before the BFC immediately, and this action will be noted to the populace via the Baronial Email list.
      4. The candidate is not officially removed from office until the next meeting, where a second vote of no-confidence will be held. If again the candidate is voted against, they will be removed from the BFC and are barred from running for the BFC again for a period of 1 full year.
      5. Once voted out, a vote to determine a new member for the position will be immediately held.
      6. If a vote of no-confidence is called for a BFC member, and the member is upheld in their position (either in the first or second voting), a vote of no-confidence cannot be called for again for that member by either of two same residents of the Barony who first called for it, for the rest of the duration of the BFC member's term.
      7. No more than 1 vote of no-confidence may be called for, on a single BFC member, per Baronial Meeting.
      8. If a member of the BFC has any need to step down from their position before the natural end of term, they may do so, and as above an immediate vote will be held to find their replacement.
  3. Voting procedures for financial matters
    1. All Baronial decisions that involve the spending of Baronial Funds (directly, or via budgets) shall be voted upon by the BFC.
    2. All items shall be brought up by a member of the populace at a Baronial Meeting. Appropriate time will then be allotted for discussion of this proposal. After discussion has ensued, two other members of the populace not on the financial committee must propose & second that the item goes to vote by the financial committee.
    3. If the populace does not feel that enough discussion has ensued on a topic yet, a vote by the populace in attendance may be held to postpone the decision until the next meeting, where more time for discussion will be available.
    4. When an item has been sent to the committee for a vote to take place, it will meet the following procedure:
      1. All votes will be held immediately upon being sent to the committee, and therefore held only at official Baronial Meetings
      2. All votes will be conducted by hand vote, and in the open to the populace.
      3. Written proxy votes will be allowed on previously known items by committee members not able to attend the Baronial meeting, but only if the issue, as previously discussed, has not substantiality changed since the proxy vote was cast. These proxy votes will be given in confidence to the Baronial Herald, who will reveal the contents of the proxy vote at the appropriate time.
      4. Committee members may not give their right to vote to anyone else.
      5. If members of the committee are absent, and have not sent in proxy votes on an item, the committee can choose, if they feel the need, to postpone the vote until said members are present. This can be accomplished by a majority vote by the attending members of the BFC.
      6. For all votes by the BFC, three positive votes must be cast for an item to pass favorably. Three postive votes are required regardless of the number of voting BFC members present or having sent proxy votes in order to show a majority decision of the behalf of the entire BFC.
  4. Policies for the handling of Baronial Funds
    1. Event Budgets
      1. Event autocrats must complete an event budget mentioning all expenditures (at a high level).
      2. This budget must be presented at a Baronial Meeting at least 3 full months before the event date, to allow for discussion by the populace and for it to follow the above voting procedures.
      3. If a vote on an event budget does not pass, the BFC must state their reasons for failing it, so that the autocrat can make appropriate changes. It shall be re-presented at the next Baronial Meeting.
      4. If a satisfactory budget cannot be passed by 2 months before the event (including if the autocrat fails to provide a budget), the BFC will decide via vote, whether the event will be cancelled, or if that is not possible, or not financially feasible, if a new autocrat shall be chosen.
      5. If the event budget includes any planned profit, then the purpose of those monies shall be specified (such as for purchasing Baronial goods, or just augmenting the current Baronial account balance)
      6. Budget overages should hopefully be brought before the committee and voted upon as an 'update' to the budget as they need to occur. If any other overage/money is spent that is outside the budget, the BFC must ratify the expenditure after the fact. If the BFC fails to ratify the expenditure, then reimbursement will not be made.
      7. These timescale of this budget process may be shortened, on a case-by-case basis, by vote of the BFC, under extreme circumstances (such as an event 'popping up' within a 2 month basis). This decision should include the new first presentation date, as well as a new final date, and will be made clear to the autocrat.
      8. All event expenditures must be cleared, and receipts handed in, within 30 days of the event. No reimbursement will occur for any expense handed in after that point.
    2. Officer Budgets
      1. Any officer of the barony, may at the first Baronial Meeting of the new year request a yearly budget for supplies needed for their office.
      2. This must include a total maximum dollar amount, and specify the types of things that will be bought with this money.
      3. Officer budgets shall not be given out as an advance. All budget purchases must be submitted to the Exchequer for reimbursement.
      4. If the Exchequer feels that the purchase might not fall under the premise of the budget, then it will be brought before the populace at a meeting for discussion, then voted upon by the BFC.
      5. After any yearly budget is extinguished, all new purchases for that office must be approved individually.
    3. Baronial Donations
      1. If the Barony chooses to donate money to any organization/group, then a proposal shall need to be made before the populace for exactly how much money shall be given, and to whom.
      2. If the donation is found acceptable by the BFC, the Exchequer will directly write, and deliver the check to the affected party.
    4. Baronial Purchases
      1. The Barony recognizes two distinct methods of making Baronial purchases that the BFC may vote upon.
      2. Exact Amount
        1. In this method of purchasing, the proposal for the purchase will include exactly what is being purchased, and exactly how much the cost will be (including tax/shipping if needed).
      3. Maximum Amount
        1. This method involves the Barony deciding that it needs something of a general class.
        2. The Barony will vote to entrust one person to obtain this item or items for the Barony, but for the purchase not to exceed a certain dollar amount.
        3. If the purchase made is more than the budget, the excess will not be reimbursed. A new higher budget should have been voted upon instead before the purchase was made.
    5. Recurring Cost Commitments
      1. This refers to any cost (such as rental fees, or webhosting costs) that the Barony agrees to continue to pay on a regular basis.
      2. The reason for the commitment must be presented to the populace and then approved by the BFC.
      3. The proposal shall include an exact amount of the payment, or a good approximation if it can vary somewhat.
      4. The Exchequer will keep track of all recurring costs and ensure that they are paid on time.
      5. If the Exchequer notices the cost significantly changing, it shall be brought before the BFC to be voted upon again.
    6. Special Purpose Funds
      1. The BFC may create upon a vote a Special Purpose Fund. This can happen independently, but usually will happen as the result of a fund raising endeavor (such as a bake sale), as part of an event budget, or from an outside donation.
      2. These funds, while stored in the Baronial checking account, will be kept track of separately by the Baronial Exchequer, and shall be reported as such to the Barony.
      3. The funds will be specifically defined as to what their purpose is for, and that money shall not be spent on anything else
      4. Once money is in a fund, that does not give anyone the direct ability to spend the money. All purchases/expenditures from the fund must be approved via one of the various approval methods.
    7. Emergency Purchases
      1. The only other type of purchase that the Barony recognizes (without updating this policy) are Emergency Purchases.
      2. Emergency purchases are purchases that 'need' to be made suddenly, without time to wait for the next Baronial Meeting.
      3. While an emergency Baronial Meeting could be called if it is felt necessary for immediate voting, the following procedure may instead be employed.
      4. If the person needing to make the purchase can via phone/email/personal contact get the tentative approval for the purchase by at least 3 members of the BFC, then they may make the purchase, but no advance will be given to cover the purchase.
      5. However, upon the next Baronial Meeting, the purchase will be brought before the populace for discussion. After that the BFC must vote to uphold the purchase.
      6. If the BFC votes against the purchase at this time, the purchaser will not be reimbursed for the purchase, and it is up to the purchaser if they still wish to donate the item to the Barony, or keep it for themselves at that point.
    8. Other / Unapproved Purchases
      1. The Barony will not allow any money from it's account to leave unapproved by the BFC, and will not reimburse for any purchases made that do not follow one of the approval methods given above. There will be no leniency to this mandate. No one shall purchase anything unapproved/undiscussed 'expecting' the Barony to reimburse them.
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