Arc 722, 5 Cylus
Cylus was upon the settlement. Haven had prepared for it and was doing well, taking the time to plan matters for the crop to come and other assorted projects. Even on Faldrass, the dark, cold season was not to be taken lightly despite the island's more favorable climate.
For Haven's leader, it was also the time to announce something that she was a bit reluctant to broach with the settlers and had spent several trials considering how best to do so – taxes. Scalvoris had a 10% tax rate that was standard, but taxation wasn't employed in Haven yet. The generosity of the government and private businesses, along with contributions from Elisabeth herself, had graced the settlement with what they had, but it couldn't go on like that forever. Even as uneducated in business as she was, the concept seemed very straightforward.
Every season, Haven had a settlement meeting to go over current affairs and issues that needed discussion, and the Cylus meeting was that evening. The young woman had considered holding off until Ashan or after the wedding, but the longer she put off implementing it, the more she was disadvantaging the settlement.
As she gathered her notes together in a pile, a knock sounded at the door to Haven House. The door opened, and Silk, Balder, and Ronan stepped into the room, nodding to her as they did. "Evening, you three," she said, giving them all a smile. The guards always came early to help her set up for the meetings, which really just consisted of setting out chairs and entertaining Storm until the others arrived.
As soon as the small group moved things around, a familiar yawning feline strode out from the bedroom. Storm, freshly woken from a nap, meowed his irritation, although he quickly deduced from the activity that all his people would be coming to see him soon. That was the only reason why extra chairs would be present, after all. With his mood significantly improved, Elisabeth's cat found his way to the big, long table in the center of the room and effortlessly jumped up upon it, plopping in the middle so he could keep an eye on things.
People began to trickle into Haven House, greeting each other and chatting until everyone had arrived. Elisabeth scanned the room quickly, appearing to look around, but in truth, her mind flitted over her notes. Nothing on the agenda worried her beyond the taxation issue. Even that truly wasn't what she would classify as a 'concern.' Still, the mage did have fears about adequately explaining the situation to the settlers. One of the things about being a leader was recognizing one's weaknesses, and she had a knack for getting ahead of herself and losing her train of thought. "Not happening tonight," she thought.
The voices settled in anticipation of her beginning the meeting, which she did. They had mundane settlement matters to discuss first, which the group did quickly and efficiently. Everything from farm tasks that needed handling throughout Cylus to minor repairs needed in the settlement - they discussed them all. The checklist Elisabeth used to go through meetings allowed the group to work through old business, new business, and tackle almost all settlement matters together, so everyone was on the same page.
As they resolved the last matter on the agenda, Elisabeth quickly noted the resolution and then set her notebook down, rising to address the assembled people. "I have one final thing that I need to talk to you all about." She always was honest with the people of Haven, and the mage wasn't going to start hiding things from them, confessing how she was feeling. "I've been going over this issue in my head for a few seasons now, attempting to figure out when the right time to implement it, but I finally realized that we are there - the 'right time.'
Step by step. That's all she could do was take them through it step by step. Starting them at the story's beginning allowed her to detail where they needed to go. "Since the founding of Haven, we have benefited from the generosity of the Scalvoris government and private businesses. The partnership with the University brought us additional income, and I've also personally funded projects like the farm and have paid for the building of the chapel in Ashan."
"However, a strong settlement needs a strong financial plan, and I believe Haven has reached a point where it's stable enough that we need to look to and safeguard its financial future. We've already started growing, and with growth comes expenses. I have some ideas about future income sources for the settlement, but we will be talking about those next season. For tonight, there's only one particular issue."
All eyes were on her. Her words had gotten their attention, and now she just needed to lay out the plan. "As you all know, Scalvoris citizens have a taxation rate of 10%. The time has come to implement taxation in Haven as well. What I wish to discuss with you all is when that will start."
She had anticipated some grumbling, but to her surprise, there was none. There were voices and soft chattering, but nothing indicated to her that there was a significant issue. A few hands rose, prompting her to respond quickly. "I know there are questions, and I'll answer them. Just let me get through this last part, and we will go from there."
'When' was the question everyone wanted answering, but Elisabeth had something to say before they got to that. "Taxation is inevitable. What we need to discuss and decide is when to begin it. My thought is that we could set the taxation to begin Ymiden 1. After the first set of crops are in, giving people time to assess their finances. I would never drop something like this on Haven without giving you time, and I trust that you all know that. This would give everyone a cycle."
Oh! And one last reassurance. "Please keep in mind that I will still be personally funding projects for Haven as I am able and working hard to create meaningful business relationships that will benefit the settlement. I hope that doing so will allow us to create a healthy financial buffer quickly and give the settlement time to do so without draining the coffers."
That was all she had in the way of a proposal and opinion. It was their turn to ask questions, which a few did. Edward Munny was the first, but then again, he usually was. "What are the advantages and disadvantages if we start taxation totrial as opposed to Ymiden, as you are suggesting?" Elisabeth had been ready for that question, so she had an immediate reply. "Honestly, Edward, two more seasons of tax money is the advantage. The disadvantage is two seasons of that money removed from the settler's pockets with too little warning. Before this point, I felt the settlement was still recovering from its bumpy start, but I now feel we are doing very well in that regard, and I sense an era of growth coming. I just want us to be ready to take advantage of opportunities as they come up and be proactive. That's far preferable to scrambling."
Edward seemed satisfied with that response, so it was time for another question, this time from Bran. "What if we started the taxation in Ashan? That still gives us a bit of time, yet we aren't waiting until Ashan to get this whole thing started. It seems the logical thing to do. It's never going to be a perfect time, but maybe Ashan 1 is about as perfect as it gets?" Lots of nodding heads accompanied his suggestion and prompted Bryn to speak up. "We knew we wouldn't be free of taxes forever, and honestly, to have gone this long without paying them has been a gift for people that lost so much. But Haven will pay its way and be proud to do so." The agreement became louder in response to his words, and then he turned to the settlement leader with a grin. "So that's option two – Ashan."
Nodding, Elisabeth gave him a quick smile. "Option two it is. Are there any other comments, remarks, complaints, or concerns?" There were a few more quick questions, but ones she swiftly answered and were more related to the current state of funds for the settlement.
After a few more questions, Edwin suggested that instead of a blind vote, a raise of hands would be quicker to decide when to start the taxation. Overwhelmingly, the decision was made that Ashan 1 would be the start date. Jotting a note down in her book, Elisabeth closed it and gave her closing remarks.
"I thank all of you for your support and being active parts of this community. Haven relies on every person, and I'm so proud to be a member of this special place. To work trial in and trial out with all of you. I believe Haven's future is bright, and I'm honored to be surrounded by such incredible people as we work towards that future."
The meeting broke quickly after that, and as always, some people lingered behind to discuss minor matters or just chat. As Elisabeth considered the room, what struck her was how ordinary everything was. Her worry and concern about the taxation issue were largely unwarranted, although probably good as they had forced her to focus on presentation and might have made all the difference in the world.
The settlers took everything in stride, and if there were concerns, the people didn't vocalize them to her. Being a leader was a lot of different things and much more challenging than she initially thought, but the people of Haven made certain aspects of it just a little easier.
