Re: RC: fees non rider

[jlong@mti.net (Joe Long)]

On Tue, 9 Mar 1999 19:51:07 -0800, "janet b" <jlbenke@atnet.net>
wrote:

>If AERC has a justification for charging a non-member fee, it should do so.  If revenues are down or insufficient to provide services which our dues pay for or which we expect, then non-members, who enjoy the benefits of our rides without having to pay dues for them, should be glad or willing to pay a non-member fee.  There is hardly an organization, whether professional or non-profit, which doesn't require non-members to pay a fee or a service or good.  One of the benefits of membership is an equitable share of costs.  Non-members are not participating in this sharing of the costs and benefits of association.  Their contribution is a paltry $10.00 fee to AERC which may ensure that there are sanctioned rides next year.

You don't have all of your facts straight.

Non-members are participating in sharing the costs of the association
-- they pay the same ride sanction fees as everyone else.  No one has
suggested that they should be exempt from that fee.  The problem is
charging them an *extra* fee for which they do not receive service or
enjoy benefits in return, but instead are subsidizing the benefits
enjoyed by the members.

Excessive AERC fees, rather than ensuring the continued existence of
rides, threatens that existence.

>Ride managers have a conflict of interest:  Personal income generated by the ride and AERC's need for revenue.  As a rider, I prefer not to subsidize non-members through my dues.  It is not a right to ride, it is a privilege.  And I thank the ride managers for putting on the rides.  And I thank AERC for being an agent in the development of the sport.

Few ride manager put on rides for personal profit.  Most consider
themselves lucky to break even.  It is a labor of love, but RM's
should not have to suffer a loss and subsidize excessive fees to AERC.
I cancelled my plans to manage a ride this summer because of these
fees.

As a member, why do you want non-members to subsidize you with extra
fees?

>PNER has sent a resolution to AERC on fees and other matters.  To wit:  Before imitiating any fees, AERC needs to conduct a cost benefit analysis to determine if the fee is justifiable, then present that to the membership for consideration.  (I beleive in a nutshell that summarizes it.)

This is a good idea, and should have been done long ago.

>I had no qualms about paying a non-member fee my first ride.  Of course, I was a non-member!  So what's the big deal?  I joined my region and AERC immediately, however, because I prefer to be part of something I realize I want to do.  It never occurred to me only to take in the rides.  And, I did this as a LD rider.  

Years ago in another sport I took part in a successful boycott to
rescind a non-member fee.  Because they are basically unfair.

If I went into a grocery store to buy a loaf of bread, and the sign
said "Bread:  $2.00, non-members $.50 extra," I know exactly what I'd
do.  I'd leave and go down the street to another store to buy my
bread.

But as you pointed out I can't do that if I want to ride an endurance
ride.  The AERC is the only game in town.  They have a monopoly.  So
if I want to ride an endurance ride in the U.S., I am forced to either
pay dues to the AERC or pay an extra fee to ride.  There's a name for
that -- extortion.  And I don't think it's right.

If the services provided by the AERC are really more than the $3.00
per starting rider covers, then the sanction fee should be adjusted to
the correct amount.  Then everyone who rides is paying his fair share,
and the members are paying for their value received, and no one is
being forced to pay extra.  That's why the cost analysis you suggested
is so important.  My own analysis shows that the cost to the AERC of
each non-member rider is LESS than the three-dollar sanction fee, and
nowhere near justifying ten dollars extra.

I've been an AERC member since 1978.  Most of that time we had no
non-member fees, and I was proud of that.  I was happy that my
organization put out the welcome mat for new riders, instead of
demanding extra fees from them.  Not all change is good.

-- 

Joe Long
jlong@mti.net
http://www.mti.net     Business
http://www.rnbw.com    Personal


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