(updated 1/31/24)
Mountain Freehold’s Financial Policy is based on the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.’s Governing Documents, the Society Financial Policy, the Society Exchequer’s Handbook, and East Kingdom Financial Policy. It does not repeat the requirements set forth in those documents.
Financial Committee Members
The Financial Committee consists of the Shire Seneschal, the Shire Seneschal’s Emergency Deputy, the Shire Exchequer, and any Shire Deputy Exchequers.
Financial Committee Meetings
A quorum for making decisions will be 50% of committee members. Consensus is ideal, but the majority carries the vote. The Financial Committee may discuss event bids and expense requests via email.
Financial Reporting and Disclosure
At any moot or business meeting held in the Freehold, the Shire Exchequer will be prepared to state the current account balance. Upon request, the Shire Exchequer will provide the shire’s financial records to any shire member.
Expense Authorizations
Expenses of over $100 that are not related to events will be discussed at the next business meeting or moot. If a business meeting or moot is not currently on the schedule, and the need is pressing, discussion of the expense may take place on the shire email list. After considering the wishes of the shire at large, and the state of the shire’s finances, the decision whether to authorize such expenses will remain with the Financial Committee. Ideally, the cost of such expenses will be offset by fund-raising for that purpose.
Expenses of less than $100 that are not related to events may be authorized upon consensus of the Financial Committee. These expenses will also be brought to the attention of the populace at a business meeting, moot, or via the shire email list.
At Pennsic, if a common-use pavilion is rented for the Freehold-Coldwood camp, our shire will split the rental cost with the Shire of Coldwood, as long as our bank account balance stands at more than $1000.
Event Fees
Children under the age of 18, and the autocrat and head cook of the event, are exempt from site fees at Shire events. Royalty is exempt from all Freehold event fees.
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Summary of changes from previous version:
1) We removed redundant sections that simply repeated Society and Kingdom Financial Policies.
2) We added a section that says all youth (under the age of 18) will be given free admission to Freehold events. (They may still have to pay for feast, dayboard, class fees, or other event-related expenses beyond just getting through the Gate.) As before, the autocrat and head cook are also exempt from site fees, and Royalty as well.
3) We updated the composition of the Financial Committee. The old committee was only three people – the Seneschal, the Exchequer, and a third SCA member residing in the shire who was mutually agreeable to them both. The new committee has more members – the seneschal, the seneschal’s emergency deputy, the exchequer, and any deputy exchequers.
4) A section was added that says for the financial committee, a quorum for making decisions is 50% of the committee members. We also added a statement that consensus is ideal, but majority carries the vote.
5) We removed the outdated section on Pennsic Finances. Instead, any shire-related Pennsic expenses (they are rare) will be handled the same as any other request to expend shire funds. You can find a more detailed description of that process in the policy, under “Expense Authorizations.” We also added the section on splitting the rental cost of the common-use pavilion at Pennsic, in the Freehold-Coldwood camp, after discussion at a business meeting on Jan. 31 and a further discussion online by the Financial Committee. This way we don’t have to vote on it each year.