Bay Bucks

[The_Dark]

I was wathing the local news last night and was shocked on this story. It seems the greater Grand Travers area is printing it's own money. Starting today. They call it Bay Bucks. I thought they were joking at first. Seems not. I'm not sure this is going to go over well with the Feds, let alone the locals. Your thoughts?

http://baybucks.org/

[phee]

Strange.... I wonder what the eventual goal of that is?

[The_Dark]

Economic Stability and keeping local money local rather than sending it off to some multi-national conglamerat.

[Head Wreck]

seems like a good way of making sure money stays in the area, keepinbg employment stable

but how secure is this?

[The_Dark]

No idea.

[phee]

It is actually "illeagal"?

[The_Dark]

I don't know that either. I do know that there are other areas in the country that do it.

[torn asunder]

doesn't seem much different to me than selling beer/food tickets at a festival - i should probably read up on this, tho...

[phee]

Any body want to start DGN currency, with like Troys picture on it, and like "In Goth We Trust" written on them?

[Onyx]

Any body want to start DGN currency, with like Troys picture on it, and like "In Goth We Trust" written on them?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, I have to have some of that! hehe.

*imagines it would be good for buying DGN CDs and contributing to hosting costs*

[phee]

Yes!!@!

[Daevion]

I don't think its legal for any state or city to print its own currency....I believe that its prohibited in the constitution.

"Section. 10.

Clause 1: No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

"

...maybe the lawyers found a loophole..who knows

[The_Dark]

The Constition prohibits States from minting money... but it has no clause that prohibits a city from doing it.

[Daevion]

The Constition prohibits States from minting money... but it has no clause that prohibits a city from doing it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...your right, perhaps thats the loophole...but isn't a city technically a part of the state, so all cities within the state should fall within the clause...I would imagine

[The_Dark]

the "state" in question is the governing body of a region. A city's governing body isn't part of the states governing body... but hey.. thats just how I see it.. I'm no lawyer.

[Msterbeau]

the "state" in question is the governing body of a region. A city's governing body isn't part of the states governing body... but hey.. thats just how I see it.. I'm no lawyer.

I would think that the state has some measure of authority/control over the cities within its borders. An example of this would be when Hamtramk had a financial controller assigned to it because of fiscal problems, or the whole situation with the Detroit City school system. Or were those not state mandated?

After reading the FAQ, I'm still left wondering what the benefits are. It doesn't explain it in enough depth for me to "get" it. But hey.... it's pretty, right?

[Rayne]

  But hey....  it's pretty, right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...Isn't that all that matters?

I seriously don't get it...nor do I understand how they can do it -- isn't it illegal to print your own money?

[The_Dark]

States do have some autority over the coty's with-in them.. but only some. The city's can't break any state law and the state cant break any federal law... but neither the state or the feds have a law that says you cant have reginal money.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

It is legal to print and use this money. The Our Town Bucks People have been doing it for years.... I have some samples I bought for kicks... anyway its not Legal Tender. The "money" is technically a cupon.

It works for some towns, but its not too practical except in small towns where there are lots of private businesses. When you get corporate companies involved, they of course refuse to accept the money and refuse to pay their employees in it.

Most of the towns that use this money issue it in "bond" fashion to pay for a park or some sort of public improvement. They issue the currency and people buy it with real cash. The real cash builds the project and the "Bucks" are then passed around as wages or as pay.

Later the town will print more of the "bucks" and then issue them (sell them) increasing the towns treasury of real currency while also increasing the "bucks" in the system.

Later on, some of the employers and retailers/service providers/ sellers , will start accepting a percentage of the the purchase price in "bucks" with the rest in cash. The same goes for wages etc.

Its a nice program on paper especially since tourists will buy the stuff as souviners etc.

The town pays 5-15 cents per bill no matter the denomination. Most of them are watermarked or have other nice anti-counterfeit features (due to some early on fun with these schemes)

over all i give it a 6 on the economic viability scale for the town and a 10 for the printer (they make lots of money on it)

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

The only money that you are prohibited from printing would be copies of "legal tender" (anything printed by the Treasury for the US government)

[gothicmom]

If you read the FAQ on the site it explains everything you all are asking.

[Msterbeau]

If you read the FAQ on the site it explains everything you all are asking.

Well... yes and no. It lists the "benefits", but it doesn't spell out how specifically those benefits happen, etc.. That was my point.

Zhuk answered a few of my questions, but there's still some things I need to see explained in more depth for me to get the full picture here.

[Onyx]

Reminds me of the scrip program at the schools here.

http://www.glscrip.com/what_is_scrip.htm

The word scrip makes me shudder.

I guess it's good for the schools and stuff but I'm so tired of being harassed to buy the crap, walking past the booth when I pick my kids up or have to visit the school. I just don't have time to mess with things like this and the PTA moms here get rabid when you tell them you don't have time to participate.

[Ginevra]

Reminds me of Disney Dollars. Which were only good as long as you were in the confines of Disneyland. After you went through the exit, they became merely pretty sentimental pieces.

[Lilith]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT BAY BUCKS

v Taken from site above ^

Is Local Currency Legal?

Local currency is an entirely legal means to supplement to use of the federal currency within a community. Bills must not resemble US dollars--Bay Bucks are a different size and far more colorful (and beautiful) than US dollars.

Has This Been Done Before?

At least 60 communities in the US and Canada have local money systems. Bay Bucks is partially modeled on an internationally recognized system in Ithaca, New York where 1,500 people and 4000 businesses accept local currency in exchange for clothing, housing, movie tickets, massage, dentistry, legal advice, home repairs, bank fees, and hundreds of other services and goods.

Are Bay Bucks Taxable?

Yes. Because the federal government considers them to be the equivalent of cash, you must pay taxes on Bay Bucks income just as you would on federal dollars.

How Does A Bay Buck Work?

Just like money. Bay Bucks come in $1, $5, $10 and $20 denominations and are locally equivalent to federal dollars. That is at participating businesses, $1 in Bay Bucks buys you as much as one federal dollar