Every Hood Council will sooner or later have to deal with less popular adjustments, and I'm afraid to announce that in Simmerville there will be several changes. The hood's economy is simply too weak to carry our welfare program, and we do intend to continue or good offers.
The hood economy
During the Age of Pets the Hood Council added new facilities to our hood, which of course had high costs. The hood can not add as much as a brick stone to a community lot without taking that value from somewhere, and the bank account that we do spend was heavily charged during the past Age. We got Simmerville Studio which will hopefully help putting Simmerville on the larger maps, and we got Dragon Pond, where locals go fishing and socialize. While the Dragon Pond is totally owned by the hood, Simmerville Studio is a shareholder's company where the hood intends to keep majority of the shares.
More tasks are awaiting in the future. We want to reorganize some of our services, the Bus Station to mention one, creating more jobs in the hood. Also the Medical Center will soon open for more jobs within medicine and science. All these changes will force us to spend more of our savings. Therefore, we will unfortunately need to adjust the taxes, hopefully we found a way that will mostly affect households with the better funds.
A new household standard
The Hood Council has debated the new tax system thoroughly in order to make it as smooth as possible, and not to affect the average household. In this work we spent some time to come up with a new household standard that should not need to pay extra taxes.
A household counting up to 5 Sims, including no more than 2 children, 1 pet (dog or cat) and just one car will only be charged the minimum tax that equals to the old system. All taxes will be collected on simdays ending with 5 and 0 (80, 85, 90...). This is in order to limit the administration and to allow households a few simdays to find available funds.
Household Tax
The general base tax will be §500 per 5 simdays, just like before. It used to cover up to 4 adults, where other age groups counted an half adult. We have simplified this by letting the Household Tax cover 5 household members regardless of age.
For most households this change will not have any impact on their tax. Larger households will need to pay double, just like they used to do. Owning a car no longer affects the Household Tax.
Extra Household Tax
When a household contains more than 5 Sims, the Extra Household Tax of §500 must be paid. 6 and 8 Sims households pay the same.
Extra Child Tax
When a household contains more than 2 children (younger than young adult), there will be charged an Extra Child Tax of §250 per extra child. It is important for us to limit the population growth, and the Hood Council has already recommended a 2 children limit for quite some time. It never had any tax effect until now.
Extra Pet Tax
When a household contains more than 1 pet (cat/dog) there will be an Extra Pet Tax of §250 per extra pet. Puppies and kittens do not affect this. If a puppy grows up on the day after the taxes is collected, you can keep the adult without paying the Extra Pet Tax if you sell it before the next Tax day.
If you think this is too expensive you might like to consider not having pets at all.
Extra Car Tax
When a household owns more than 1 car there will be an Extra Car Tax of §250 per extra car.
Examples
A description of the new tax system was sent to all local households a week ago. I checked with a few of them how they welcome the new system, and offered to calculate their new taxes.
The Fresco family at 1 Avenue de Lobos
 Mr. Gobelin: Hello, Mrs Bellue Fresco. You are head of this household, is that correct?
Bellue Fresco: Yes, that is correct. May I ask why you ask?
Mr. Gobelin: Well, there is a new tax system. Did you read about it?
Bellue Fresco: Yes, I did. It contained lots of typos... It all sounded fine with me, though.
Mr. Gobelin: Let's see... This household counts you and your husband, your teen daughter Siliza, 4 - FOUR - cats and 1 car. The good news is that you don't have 4 children, but you did know that. The bad news is that you will becharged Extra Pet Tax for §750!
Bellue Fresco: Thank you for confirming my household status. It seems we totally agree about how many cats we have. I intend to keep only 2 and sell the off spring.
Mr. Stephan Gobelin: In that case, if you sell them within simday 80 you will only be charged §250 extra. The Beartop family at 13 Old Simmer Lane
 Mr. Gobelin: Good afternoon, Mrs Beartop! How is your family doing? Did you learn about the new tax system?
Bianca V. Beartop: Hello Mr Gobelin. New tax system, is that what you said? No, I must have missed it...?
Mr. Gobelin: Yes, Simmerville is implementing a new system in a few simdays. It's valid the next time we collect taxes. Please have this copy that describes it all.
Bianca V. Beartop: Oh... well, I guess we will just need to pay what is charged. I just... just hope it won't affect our business over at Old Hunter's Lodge. You know Cole worked so hard at Trad Toys, but it doesn't really pay off too well.
Mr. Gobelin: Don't worry, Mrs Beartop! There won't be any business tax - yet. Your household counts you and Mr Beartop, your 3 - THREE - sons, 1 car and 1 cat, is that correct? Mmmmm... In this case you are within the 5 Sims limit, car and cat is fine, but there is a new Extra Child Tax if you have more than 2 children in a household! So, you will need to pay §250 extra. Have a nice day! The Frocks family at 14 Old Simmer Lane
 Mr. Gobelin: Good Evening, Mrs Elsa Frocks! Your garden is lovely, how come I never see you use it? Have you heard about Simmerville's new tax system?
Elsa S. Frocks: I'm often in the garden Mr Gobelin. In the hot tub, you can't see it from the road. Would you like to... join me...? Taxes is not my talent, but I'm willing to learn...
Mr. Gobelin: Well, no thank you, no hot tub for me, this Summer day is just too hot! Phew. Here is a description of the new tax system. There are some new Extra Taxes that will hardly affect any residents... I think. Let's check with your household.
Elsa S. Frocks: Ah, I love hot days... would you mind if I put on a bikini... okay, I'll wait... our household... I and my hubby Luphold, our 1 adult son, 1 teen son, 1 child daughter. And we do have a car and a dog, and this hot tub, and a bbq set. Anything else?
Mr. Gobelin: Thank you, that's all I need to know... The base Household Tax will cover your household perfectly, Mrs Frocks. Because your oldest son is adult there is no Extra Child Tax. Enjoy this lovely Summer day, Mrs Frocks, and thank you for your time! And, well, you will not be charged for the hot tub - yet. |  ReactAny comments regarding Simmerville's new local taxes can be posted here. |
 |  |  |  | September 01, 2007
Tess Appleton, Simmerville |  | |
I think this new tax system is horrible!!! Just horrible!!! Why shall I be punnished for having my youngest son? He is a nice boy, he will make this hood proud one day! But now I feel that he is not welcome here! Shame on you Mr Stephan Gobelin! We want the old hood council back! | |  |  |  |
| | | | August 28, 2007
Goovuda T. Loveless, Simmerville | | |
I think you did the right thing here! I have 3 kids, but the oldest is adult so it won't mean any extra taxes on us, if I get this correctly. It will be easy to most that there is a standard that apply to most houses. | | | | |
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