Volunteer Recognition fee & SM Compliance Fee

[RX3]

Post Event Audits (Tow Fund, Excess Sanction, Compliance Fees): Attached please find the new audit form for 2008. As you will see there are two new fees this year:

1) $2 per entry for the Volunteer Recognition Program for all events (all Regionals, Nationals and Driver Schools)

2) $10 per entry (regional and national events) for the Spec Miata Compliance Fee. This includes all classes that use the core SM preparation rules as their basis, such as SMT.


Does any one know any thing about these two new fees.

[seckerich]

The $10 for spec miata is like the spec racers for checks at events by national staff. Have not caught the "special award tax" on the form. Thanks. This is BS. $2.00 per car for every entry all year is a big chunk of change for a trophy.

[Greg Amy]

$2.00 per car for every entry all year is a big chunk of change for a trophy.[/b]

"Volunteer Recognition Program". I suggest this is a worker fund for covering dinners, lunches, beer party, etc. Well worth it. In fact, it'll save me money, given that I have been voluntarily giving more than that on occasion... - GA

[seckerich]

"Volunteer Recognition Program". I suggest this is a worker fund for covering dinners, lunches, beer party, etc. Well worth it. In fact, it'll save me money, given that I have been voluntarily giving more than that on occasion... - GA
[/b]

You make some big assumptions Greg. This is on the audit sheet to send the fee to National office. How does this feed workers? We already spend way more than that on food, parties, and rooms for our workers. This just takes away from the money available to do that.

[spnkzss]

WDCR actually hit us up last year for $5 a driver. This gave some GOOD worker goodies to workers and paid for dinner for EVERYONE, not only workers. I was game for that, BUT that was an addition to teh other raises in fees. MARRS races last year went up $30 or $35 a weekend. That hurt.

If it is going toward teh REGIONAL workers then I'm all for it. We can't race without them and visa versa.

[gran racing]

Well then, if that's the case it's too bad. I already donate to the worker funds, but have a feeling this will impact the amount of money people give to the worker fund at the event. So what is this being used for? It has to be more than a trophy at the end of the year.

Maybe the worker fund(s) should be eliminated as seperate line item and just build a designated amount into the entry fee.

Sometimes I wish there was an IT compliance fee and at each event, various items were looked at more closely.

[Andy Bettencourt]

Sometimes I wish there was an IT compliance fee and at each event, various items were looked at more closely. [/b]

Work locally. I see no reason we can't, as a group, suggest to the Tech team some items we would like to be checked and have them administer it at random throughout the year. Start a new thread in the NE section. I am in!

[JohnRW]

This is just nonsense.

"Volunteer Recognition Fee" ? Just how does the SCCA in Topeka get off skimming $2 off of every entry ? That's what they're doing. The "audit" is the post-event audit that Race Chairmen complete, to forward final 'car counts' etc., and to write the final post-event check to the Topeka office.

Since WHEN are there any "volunteers" working in the Topeka HQ ? Don't think so. Just where does this money go ? What is it that the Nation office can do with $2 per entry that the local Regions just can't seem to accomplish ?

And on to this: "$10 per entry (regional and national events) for the Spec Miata Compliance Fee. This includes all classes that use the core SM preparation rules as their basis, such as SMT.

Since WHEN did the proposal for an SM compliance fee include any class that wasn't specifically "SM" ??? So, any SSM cars in the NE, or any SMT down south, or the "sealed" SSM cars out west all have to contribute a "compliance fee" for classes that aren"t recognized nationally, and that nobody in Topeka could likely even find a rules-set for ???

I predict a raft of "class name & rules changes" for Miata-based cars, simply to give the finger to this.

Blatant money-grab by Topeka.

[Greg Amy]

You make some big assumptions Greg.[/b]

Yes, I do. As do you.

I did not recognize this money was heading to the Midwest. Anyone have the Real Truth behind this? - GA

[seckerich]

Have not received response yet on when this was voted on and approved. I can not find it in any fastrack. Will report what I find.

[JohnRW]

RX3 - Do you, in fact, have a copy of the 2008 "Tow Fund, Excess Sanction, Compliance" audit form ?

It'll likely look like this: http://www.scca.com/documents/Club%20Forms/TowFund.pdf

...but it will say "2008" at the top and will have, apparently, some new "fee categories" added in.

Can you scan it and post it ? Really would like to see it.

[spnkzss]

Well then, if that's the case it's too bad. I already donate to the worker funds, but have a feeling this will impact the amount of money people give to the worker fund at the event. So what is this being used for? It has to be more than a trophy at the end of the year.

Maybe the worker fund(s) should be eliminated as seperate line item and just build a designated amount into the entry fee.

Sometimes I wish there was an IT compliance fee and at each event, various items were looked at more closely.
[/b]

I use to give $10-$20 to the worker fund each race. When our fees went up as bad as they did last year, I know quite a few people, including myself, that stopped. It's a shame in my opinion. If anything, like has been said elsewhere, wrap the cost into the event if you NEED to make it a mndatory expense and add it as a line item to the event break down.

[RX3]

National 0ffice final called me back and the 2 dollars is how they are going to fund the worker member ship rebate up to 30 dollars a person. (You have to work so many week ends to get it.)This came out mid year. I did not see the funding trail at that time. Still can't find it.

[seckerich]

So we now get soaked for free memberships and get to collect it for National. All these feel good programs sound so good until the cost comes straight out of the racers pocket. Anybody want to guess what percentage of this money is eaten up in "program overhead"? I hate to sound negative and I fully support workers but it is better dealt with local. Let the regions keep this money and help workers as they need to. Every $5 we raise entries makes another racer go away. We can't afford to loose any more.

[tom_sprecher]

1) $2 per entry for the Volunteer Recognition Program for all events (all Regionals, Nationals and Driver Schools)
[/b]

This is BS! As a rough calculation for the SEDiv based on 6 "events" a month, 9 months out of the year, 225 entries and $2 each is almost $25k. That should buy some hellatious Recognition from the SEDiv alone.

Would you classify this as being a tick or a leech? Before they come up with new fees you'd think they would start doing something worth what they already get paid. What do we really get from HQ? Maybe I'm just pissed at the moment but I can't think of anything besides sanction #'s, licenses and insurance.

Who voted on this, what is their phone number or where do they live?

[seckerich]

Just got off the phone with Deanna Flanagan in club racing: This program was voted in by the BOD and was posted in the July fastrack addendum. One liner that the program was approved but no fee mentioned. The fee was disclosed in the RE newsletter sent June 29th. She is checking to see if the fee was published to the membership and promised to get back with me. I will let you know what happens.

[RX3]

I did not see it in the R.E. new letter. Terry said that she would send me a copy of money trail first of next week. Yes it will be a lot of money just from this region. And worker have to back to getting there cards signed every weekend.

[seckerich]

I did not see it in the R.E. new letter. Terry said that she would send me a copy of money trail first of next week. Yes it will be a lot of money just from this region. And worker have to back to getting there cards signed every weekend.
[/b]

Add up the number of workers you had this year (not per race, just actual people) and multiply that by the max they earn for credit($30). You will see a big difference between that figure and the $2 x total entries at all races in your region. The $2 fee is being used to reimburse national for the waiver of the $30 national dues. Regions still get their portion. Numbers do not add up at this point. I was informed that the BOD can change fees without publishing them in fastrack. Don't like it, better let your BOD rep know about it. Why do I now feel like the IRS.

[tom_sprecher]

Can anyone explain the justification for the following fees.

Excess Sanction
SRF Compliance
FSCCA Compliance
SCCA SR Compliance

With the costs from outside sources (track and energency rental, worker incentives, etc.) incurred by a racing region constantly going up you would think the BoD and HQ would try to do something to alleaviate the pressure of staying out of the red.

The above fees seem to do just the opposite with no Vaselene supplied.

[pballance]

Add up the number of workers you had this year (not per race, just actual people) and multiply that by the max they earn for credit($30). You will see a big difference between that figure and the $2 x total entries at all races in your region. The $2 fee is being used to reimburse national for the waiver of the $30 national dues. Regions still get their portion. Numbers do not add up at this point. I was informed that the BOD can change fees without publishing them in fastrack. Don't like it, better let your BOD rep know about it. Why do I now feel like the IRS.
[/b]

This also doesn't wash. The "temporary" member program requires ALL workers/particiapants/entrants at a club racing/solo/rally/TT event to be a member. It is "recommended" that regions charge a $15.00 differential to "non-members" and then forward the required $5.00 fee to national. It is the same program to "cover" the cost of "temporary" memberships but at a greater fee.

This "temp" member stuff cost our region large $$$ to cover our single event, hillclimb ham radio volunteers. 99.7% of them will NEVER join SCCA as they only care about the radio/communications aspect iof the hillclimb. We could not hold the event without them!

I like the idea of an "audit" fee to ensure compliance and maybe that is something that can be looked at at Jekyll. I am new to all of this but I am pretty certain that my car is legal (although I need to check the engine a little more closely) and believe that the majority of my fellow racers are legal as well but a certainty of post race compliance check may nudge those on the edge back to the correct side.

What do you other SeDiv guys think?