Katoa Governorship Update Thread - Tex Style

[I_am_Tex]

Folks,

I really like how Prdgi is promoting transparent stewardship with his Promitor governership thread, and after discussions with my corp mates today, we are going to be attempting to match his transparency.

You elected me governor of Katoa 8 days ago, and so we just received the first full week tax distribution less than an hour before I wrote this. Unfortunately for us, given the timing of the COGC cycles, we also just started our second upkeep cycle, so our net tax vs COGC position is not currently pretty for Yellow Fin:

Given the way the production taxes work in the game, this was expected by us, and we continue to expect that we will have the COGC upkeep fully covered by taxes set to the minimum as we get later into our term.

Upkeep for the next COGC cycle is an ongoing process, with about a third of the upkeep remaining to be contributed for this cycle, but that is ok with 9 days until the deadline. The main outstanding category is DW, and we are trying to fill that slowly such that we don’t further exacerbate the already high priced DW situation on Katoa.

You may from time to time see other members of Yellow Fin post updates in this thread…I am fortunate to have the support of some great tools developers with me in Yellow Fin as we do this.

I welcome any feedback either in this thread, Katoa planet chat, or DM’ed to me in the game. Together we will make Katoa the most successful planet in PrUn!!

[I_am_Tex]

Apologies for being a little late on this week’s Katoa treasury report:

Tax collections were, as expected, up significantly last week. They totaled 115.3K CIS across all of Yellow Fin. This is just a hair under the 118K CIS required to cover the COGC upkeep period that ends tonight.

All in all, however, as the graphic above shows, Yellow Fin is still significantly underwater due to the timing of the COGC periods relative to the tax periods. Again, I am not worried about this and expect it to even out in time, but I am trying to be transparent with the numbers.

The next COGC upkeep cycle begins tonight. Again, Yellow Fin will cover it, I ask that no one else donate it. Our members will get the contributions made well before the deadline which will be 10 days away.

As we approach the next election period, we do need to start thinking about how we want to position the planet for Populous. As my data is hopefully showing, taxes at the minimum are good enough to cover COGC upkeep, but nothing more than that. If we want to invest in the Populous planetary projects immediately upon their release WITH TAX MONEY…we need to start having some serious discussions about raising the taxes slightly to start to build that reserve fund. This is what Prdgi has done on Promitor.

I would ask for your input – whether in response here, in Katoa planet chat, or via PM in game as we weigh this challenging question that will influence the future of our planet.

Thanks for reading!!

[I_am_Tex]

This weekly financial report will be timely. Again, apologies for last week’s being late.

Tax collections were up slightly week over week, a total of just about 7K CIS higher than the previous week. At this point, I think all the taxes are flowing to Yellow Fin, so this should represent the total collected each week with taxes set to the minimum.

Tax income this week was 122,220 CIS, and that is collected weekly. COGC upkeep for the current period was 117,878 CIS, and that is every 10 days. So, if the population stays stable, Taxes at the minimum will exceed COGC upkeep each 30 days by approximately 130K CIS (4 weeks of taxes - 3 periods of COGC upkeep).

Of course, this could change significantly if we have any population spikes, such as another PC Gamer wave.

As most of you know, election voting for the next governor term is open now. If you like this style of governance and transparency, I would appreciate your vote for another term. If not, well, there are some high quality folks running against me, so my feelings won’t be hurt too badly.

We will need to work together as a planet when Populous arrives to ensure we have a high quality workforce available to keep everyone’s base operating efficiently. I continue to feel this style of governance is the best way to achieve that.

For this current term, Yellow Fin’s COGC upkeep is now completed, but we will get some additional taxes in the remaining 6 days of this term plus some residuals the following week due to how taxes are collected in the game (hopefully Populous will improve the tax collection process). I pledge to you that, regardless of the election results, you will see Yellow Fin members contributing to Populous projects with those excess taxes when Populous is released.

Thanks for reading. As always, welcome any questions or other feedback.

EDIT: Late added observation – The biggest expense in COGC upkeep is DW, which many have probably noticed hanging out near high MM recently. Quite a few people have started to bring in water, I believe mostly from Etherwind, and that price is starting to edge down slightly. If those new suppliers can get DW down into the lower 60s or even better the 50s, that will free up quite a bit of tax money to do more than just COGC.

[I_am_Tex]

A little late updating this again this week. If I don’t get to it Sunday night, then work kind of sort of drives when I am able to get this done.

First off, thanks for re-electing me. I really appreciate your trust.

The current round of COGC upkeep still has a few RATs to go, but have no fear, my corp mates will have it taken care of shortly. Thanks to the folks who donated MCG and a few RATs on election day this past weekend for your generous contributions.

Yellow Fin is now up rather significantly collecting taxes at the minimum. This is good, as we will start building up a reserve we can use when Populous drops. It won’t be anything close to the reserve Promitor will have, but it will be something.

Also, there has been a lot of chatter in Katoa chat about the COGC vote in the last 24 hours. I wanted to share my voting logic here, as I posted in Katoa chat earlier.

OK, first off, governor doesn’t get any extra votes for COGC.

But, I have voted Manuf here every week since I believe April. I have stated in chat here multiple times why I think it is right for the planet. And apparently I will do that again.

Each planet with a COGC has a couple of choices that they have to make. The first one is whether they want 10% for a class of workers or if they want 25% for an industrial sector. With the change to the multiplicative efficiency factors, the 25% is a significant win above the 10%. Therefore, I only vote for 25% bonuses with the exception of Etherwind, on which I would happily vote for a 25% if the community there could make up its mind.

The second decision is, if you pick a 25% sector, which sector should it be. And I must admit, for Katoa, I find this really hard.

A lot of people will say “Refining”…because Katoa is the best planet for fuel refining in the entire game. And that’s really the thing…it’s the best planet for fuel refining in the entire game. Whether or not there is a COGC bonus is irrelevant, Katoa is the best planet for fuel refining. And fuel refining is only a single building, not an industry.

Let’s look at the neighboring planets — Umbra is running Chemistry COGC. Proxion has plus fertility. Both Proxion and Gibson have construction advantages because of their local resources.

XK 590d is already running Metallurgy.

Let’s look at the other exchanges — Promitor is a great planet for farming, including running the Agriculture COGC. Montem is a great planet for construction. I don’t know what their COGC does, but they should be doing construction if they aren’t.

That leaves a gap in Manufacturing. And Manufacturing does a ton of stuff important to the game. And Katoa also has some access to things via nearby planets that make Manufacturing attractive here. Most notably the massive supply of PG coming off of Umbra.

Finally…if you don’t do Manufacturing here and think this will hurt you…I don’t think it will. I expect it to draw more traders to Katoa bringing supplies for Manufacturing and taking manufactured goods away. It will encourage players to build out big Manufacturing bases here, which they will need to supply with RATs and DW and FIM and the like. As 777 said, it will drive up demand on the planet for that other stuff.

So, that’s my two cents. I honestly believe it is the best thing for Katoa. Just like I honestly believe Agriculture is the best thing for Proxion even though I do construction there.

Happy to debate that either here or in Katoa chat or in DMs or on Discord. Let me know.

[I_am_Tex]

Tonight’s update is a short one…

Second round of tax payments came in during a single COGC cycle. Result is the finances look real pretty right now, but COGC will reset tomorrow and eat up a chunk of this.

But, the general story stays the same…taxes at the minimum cover the COGC with a healthy margin left over.

Or so it does until Populous comes out and gives us more to maintain. The question remains how much maintenance will Populous bring.

Thanks again for your trust, feedback is always welcome!

[I_am_Tex]

Greetings!

I skipped last week’s update and no one complained. Hopefully someone noticed, else as Prdgi suggested in his most recent update, I might be writing a note to myself.

So this update has two tax payouts in it plus a partial COGC round. We are still in the process of paying the next round of upkeep for the COGC, which isn’t due until next Sunday. So we have plenty of time.

Core message remains the same – taxes at minimum easily covers COGC dues. Question is what happens to upkeep when Populous arrives, and that remains a gigantic unknown. Fortunately we have some savings across the members of Yellow Fin.

Quick reminder - Voting is open. If you like this style, you can vote for me. If you don’t, Rubicate is an awesome guy and I wouldn’t feel the least bit put aside if he were to win.

One other quick comment – No need for anyone else to contribute to the COGC upkeep. Several generous people have been donating in the last several updates – notice the blank cost to Yellow Fin for MCG in the June 30th and PE in the July 10th dues as examples. We have plenty of tax money to cover this, no need for anyone to do that. Although your government does thank you for your wonderful generosity.

Hope everyone has a great week in Katoa’s cold ammonia rain!

[I_am_Tex]

I am now pretty sure only Prdgi and MolP read these…hoping maybe someone else will throw up a reply or a like or just about anything to prove me wrong.

First off, thank you for once again trusting me with stewardship of Katoa taxes for another term. I am deeply humbled.

Here is the weekly snapshot of finances…the current period is one of the rounds with two tax payments in a single COGC cycle:

COGC upkeep will cycle tomorrow, as per usual, Yellow Fin will pay the upkeep. It may take us a day or three to get it contributed, as it is a 10 day deadline, there is no rush to do it immediately. Please don’t feel a need to contribute, as you have already contributed via your taxes.

Always happy to take suggestions and/or questions.

[TheEconomist1]

I read it! I study the competition.

[Madnewmy]

“Insert reply here to remind Tex to do those”

[I_am_Tex]

Woohoo! People do read them!!

Prdgi - It probably means they read yours too!

[I_am_Tex]

Alright, time for another weekly update. This round has both a tax dividend payout and a round of COGC maintenance paid.

As we have established, the taxes continue to exceed COGC maintenance. As we have all the taxes set to the minimum, all I can do for now is save them. But let’s come back to that in a minute.

If I am honest, I am surprised Populous isn’t out yet. I was expecting it by now. But I also feel like it isn’t imminent. And as that snapshot shows, we have a $470K surplus right now.

So, does anyone have any ideas for the surplus while we wait for Populous? My rule is it has to be something that will make a palpable difference for the majority of folks with bases on Katoa. It doesn’t have to be on Katoa, just has to help out Katoans and not be primarily beneficial to the bases on that other planet. But if I am honest, right now, I don’t know what that something might be. So I would like your ideas.

If we don’t come up with something, we’ll keep saving that surplus for when Populous is released. I imagine we will need some pretty quick upgrades on several of the core buildings, and then we’ll need to start funding the maintenance of those buildings. As of now, we have no idea what that will cost, so no idea how the 470k compares to the upcoming costs.

PS - Seen lots of new people popping into the game lately, with a few on Katoa. Welcome to all!! Glad to have you aboard, hope you stay a while!

[I_am_Tex]

I was reminded earlier that I was delinquent this week. And, it is true.

We continue to run a surplus with just COGC. But, the information that has been reported about Populous upkeep (and frankly Populous upgrade projects) suggests that we will need to raise taxes as soon as it hits, if not earlier.

Interested in your feedback about going ahead and starting to raise them now so that we have a bigger reserve when the changes hit.

[I_am_Tex]

Alright, next round of voting is now open. 8 days of voting, finishing up next Saturday evening US CDT.

Given that this next term appears to be when Populous will finally be released, there will be some changes in the tax rate if I am re-elected. And I want everyone to expect these changes, so I am going to lay them out here.

First off, I hope everyone knows what Populous is by now. If not, I suggest you start by reading the last few Dev Logs. Recently it has been released onto the Staging server, and Esabab and some others with Staging licenses have been bringing us some previews of the associated building and upkeep.

Here is the recently published manual page for the Populous Projects: https://handbook.apex.prosperousuniverse.com/tutorials/planetary-population/

As an exchange planet, I think we will need Katoa to support Engineers and Scientists. This means we will both need a lot of investment in planetary projects, we will also need a lot of upkeep. Of course, we will start at the bottom and work our way up – Pioneer and Settler projects first, Technician projects next, and Eng and Sci projects last.

Quick aside – Why does a relatively new player who is only running Pioneers benefit from Katoa being able to house Scientists? Great question…and the reason is because the established player using the Scientists is going to need inputs to support his scientists. He/she is going to need to feed them, to give them workstations, to give them the other inputs needed to keep them working effectively. As much as I hate the term “Trickle Down Economics” – there is a lot of truth in the notion that a lot of Technicians, Settlers, and Pioneers are required to support a handful of Scientists.

OK, so, back to what does this mean for the next governor’s term? Well, if we want to use the taxes to support the Populous upkeep, we need to raise them. And we need a governor who pledges to use them to support the planetary upkeep.

Here is what I will do for taxes immediately upon re-election: Raise the WAR fee to 3000 (maximum). I will leave the LM base fee at 50, but will increase the per day rate. And I will raise all production categories except Resource Extraction from 10 to 20.

And from there, we will see what happens to the taxes. It is quite possible we will need to raise them further, but I don’t want to jump all the way to the max until we know we need to do so.

I don’t expect that will be enough to pay for all of the needed planetary projects themselves…it will largely be for just the upkeep. I will still be looking for benefactors to help with materials for the projects.

Finally, I think it is important that the other candidates for governor here state how they plan to approach Populous upkeep. And I encourage you, if you have multiple bases, to find out how governors on your other planets will approach Populous upkeep. I think all planets need to be planning now for the release coming in just a handful of weeks.

PS: One more quick note…astute observers may have noticed that I have dropped out of Yellow Fin and formed a one member corporation. With the upcoming upkeep requirements, my Yellow Fin partners agreed that the Prdgi model made sense in the short term. This is a dedicated corporation to managing Katoa, and in this model, all the taxes will stay with me for rapid investment in Katoa.

[molp]

I’d vote for you if I had a base on Katoa… As an Umbrian of the first hour, I think that Umbra can only profit from a strong Katoan leadership!

[I_am_Tex]

I was asked for a financial snapshot earlier today, so here it is, with some commentary following it:

Unfortunately, I have hit a game bug and have not yet been able to do what I said would happen following the last election.

Specifically, the game is still reflecting Yellow Fin as the managing corporation for Katoa, instead of the Solo Governing Corp that I had setup. Taxes are still flowing to Yellow Fin, and I cannot access the local rules editor to make the tax changes.

The Devs are aware, but they have bigger things to handle with Populous upcoming, and I don’t blame them for that. I suspect we will wait for the next election to clear it up.

[I_am_Tex]

Alright, let’s talk Populous.

First off, the good news, the Populous release fixed the bug with the local rules editor. Tax revenue is now flowing to Katoa Governance Inc, and I completed the interim tax increases talked about before the last election. Due to the way taxes interact with the job queueing system, it will probably be end of month before I have all the taxes redirected from Yellow Fin to KGI, but the Yellow Fin folks and I will work together until then to make sure your taxes end up supporting Katoa.

Now the bad news:

Populous upkeep thus far appears to be extremely expensive. I am not going to further raise taxes yet, but you should expect a further tax increase if this continues.

Below is my version 1 of my new format for reporting income/expense summaries:

The opening balance in that snapshot is the balance immediately before the Populous code was launched on Wednesday. The Ending balance is right now.

And that doesn’t reflect all of Populous upkeep, because we have a ton of people generously donating right now, which I do not currently reflect in my accounting system. Folks like SierraOne, Sintheras, and numerous others have donated roughly 100K CIS worth of upkeep goods.

As I said in planet chat, we need to continue upgrading the Safety Station and the Infirmary. Currently we have a level 4 Safety Station and a level 1 Infirmary. These are CLEARLY not adequate and in need of upgrades, I am thinking the Safety Station will need to be at least level 8. And a Level 8 Safety Station will double the upkeep from what is currently being paid.

I also think we need a Wildlife Park given the number of Technicians on the planet, but as I have stated previously, I will work upward from PIO, so Technicians will not be that important to me until PIO and SET are stabilized.

By the way – The next round of voting is now open on Katoa. I currently do not have an opponent. That means this isn’t a democracy. I would like someone to run against me to give people a choice and create some debate about policy.

With that said, I appreciate you continuing to trust me and the votes I have already received. Thank you very much for your support.

[I_am_Tex]

An absolutely up to the minute ledger report is attached below.

Note that the Populous upkeep here is a little overstated on a per week basis because we have 10+ days provisioned already for several areas. But we still need to upgrade our buildings further, so the upkeep will go up further.

Again, expect another tax increase soon. I want a few more run days, but probably by this weekend.

[I_am_Tex]

Just increased taxes as follows:

Changed LM Base fee from 50 -> 60
Changed LM time fee from 5 -> 8 (which is the max)
Changed WAR fee from 2500 -> 3000 (which is the max)
Changed Manufacturing Production tax from 20 -> 30 (which is the max)

For clarity, MANU was targeted for a higher production fee because the COGC is currently running MANU.

I cannot guarantee this will be the last increase. But I want to sit here for a couple of weeks and let Populous upkeep stabilize.

Financials are below. Note that the 600K surplus we had prior to Populous is now gone. Although in fairness, several upkeep categories have 10 plus days of reserves, so the run rate is not as bad as it currently appears. Offsetting factor is that Infirmary upkeep will triple tomorrow (it goes from level 1 to level 3) and we still aren’t doing any upkeep on the wildlife center.

Late Edit PS: Will get tax income tomorrow. So it will be back to positive then. Just want that to be clear to everyone.

[I_am_Tex]

Edit: Ugh…found a formula error in my spreadsheet right after I posted this…fixed below.

I don’t know that I have a whole lot to say here other than “It is what it is.”

I am expecting approximately 300K CIS in tax revenue when the week rolls over later today. That will bring our government accounts to approximately balanced…with 7 days of COGC and Populous upkeep already paid. But since we started with a 600K surplus 3 weeks ago…and we don’t have the Wildlife Center built yet…and we still need to add some additional levels to the Safety Station and/or build the drone station…obviously taxes are still not keeping up with Populous expenses.

The good news is I am making enough from my other operations that I can sustain this for a little while.

The bad news is I am raising taxes again in an attempt to close the gap.

If you want to donate (Note, you don’t have to ) – Wildlife Center and Safety Station are my two targets right now. Let’s pause the Infirmary upgrades for a while. Also, any upkeep donations are appreciated!!

Note that I have changed my donations to the construction of the Infirmary to a personal donation and not a government tax expense, so that line item is now zero.

And to the Developers: I am concerned that upkeep costs exceed maximum tax rates on exchange planets.

Thanks for reading.

–Tex

[johnclark]

Down with the governor!!! REBELLION VIVA LA TAXVOLUTION