david baker
The thread started with a note bout how to save obra money by paying direct rather than through sign-me-up dot com or whatever.
the nerve indeed!
----- Original Message -----
From: Luciano bailey
To: mike.murray@obra.org ; 'obra'
Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 8:20 AM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] 2007 OBRA Registration Donations
Let me be the first to say how totally amazed I am that someone might have the nerve to start a thread about costs with OBRA. This would skip over the fact that at many times OBRA is the the Murray's Candi and Mike that is. Funding events and equipment out of there own pockets never hesitating to do whatever is needed to make things happen. So before we slide down the slippery chat slope keep it real.
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Murray
To: 'obra'
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 3:38 PM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] 2007 OBRA Registration Donations
Jay Rideout wrote:
"Candi,
I would not consider it unreasonable to add one-time surcharges to cover
specific capital cost, especially to meet those requirements that are
mandated by the State or local government. But they need to be very visible
so we, the membership, know where to point the finger (you figure out which
one)."
The costs that Candi listed are ongoing costs not specific one time capital
costs. The "crash worthy" signs that some counties are pushing for are 3
times as expensive as what we have been using but we need to buy new signs
regularly as signs are constantly lost, stolen, broken, etc. (I suspect that
the new signs will not only be more expensive but also less durable and more
of a PITA to transport but road use authorities are pushing our hand.)
Numbers are an annual cost and are always in the same range quoted. Our
liability insurance costs went up this year (almost entirely due to medical
claims for injuries). We will always need to purchase insurance. We hope
to control the cost of insurance by no longer processing routine injury
medical claims.
The bottom line is that if we needed to increase charges to cover these
expenses it would not be a one time deal. I also have to point out that the
costs that Candi listed are only some of the expenditures that OBRA has.
Nearly all are ongoing expenses since even purchase of race equipment, such
as road signs, is a continuing process. It should also be mentioned that
just because OBRA is spending a lot of money doesn't mean it has a lot of
money. In fact it is just the other way around, of course. OBRA is, after
all, a non-profit so all the money that comes in also gets spent.
Although some people have indicated that they don't think that increasing
membership costs would adversely effect participation I would argue that the
evidence indicates otherwise. There is clearly an inverse relationship
between entry fees and participation. One of the reasons why there are many
more bike racers per capita in Oregon compared to the rest of the country is
because becoming a bike racer is cheaper. We should struggle to keep it
that way. Voluntary donations will help create more cash flow while not
effecting participation.
Mike Murray
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