Why 6 Bands is Unfair

It makes you pay for members you don’t have – You pay for 120 members as soon as you enter a band, regardless of how many of those 120 you actually end up getting. It is disguised as encouraging growth up to the next 120 members, but in reality it punishes those clubs who don’t.

The overall reduction in affiliation fees was unfairly distributed – Most members received reductions in their affiliation fees however these reductions were certainly not fairly applied amongst members. The overall reduction in affiliation fees ranges from 16.41% (Mid Canterbury) to more than 50% (Sumner and Bishopdale) and three members received no reduction at all (CT Seniors, Riccarton Domain and Hurunui).

Some members were disproportionately advantaged – The two largest Sub Associations, North Canterbury and Ellesmere (who were already paying lower than metro club per head affiliation fees) with a combined membership of 1,117 members or 19.51% of the regions total members, received $15,274.87 or 42.06% of this budgeted $36,313.30 net reduction. Moreover, the voting power of all Sub Associations was also subsequently increased by 100% at the 26 July 2018 SGM.

It creates unfairness between voting power – For example in Band 2, Edgeware pays $4,000.00 and gets 5 votes, while Bishopdale pays $4,000.00 but gets 9 votes.

The 6 Band model continues to create unfairness between the per head cost – This is because the 6 Band model is a flawed and unfair collection method. Under the 6 Band model the per-head cost of affiliation ranges for sub associations from $15.33 (Ellesmere) to $24.29 (Malvern) and for Clubs $16.88 (Waimairi) to $27.21 (Edgeware).

Large 120 member bands are unfair and encourage underreporting – A few members (gained or lost) can create a significant difference in affiliation fees of $2000.00. This may encourage underreporting of membership.

It discourages growth of individual membership and tennis in Canterbury – The high cost per band discourages new and small clubs from affiliating with TCRI, and discourages individual members from outgrowing their current band. This will significantly slow the growth of tennis in Canterbury.

Affiliation fees are unjustifiably capped at $12,000 – Under the 6 Band model Ellesmere paid less in 2017/18 affiliation fees than the TNZ affiliation fees required to be paid on their behalf by TCRI. This was a significant error on the part of the TCRI Board. The proposed 7th band should correct this error from being repeated in 2018/19 but it will not recover the shortfall from 2017/18.

The addition of a 7th band will not resolve all the issues of unfairness – It should remedy the failure to collect sufficient TNZ fees from all members, but it will not resolve the many other issues of unfairness created by the 6 Band model.

There is no benefit in prolonging the unfairness of 120 member bands as a collection method.

Please vote against the 7 Band model at the 2018 TCRI AGM

Why Vote Bands is Better

Every club gets its first 49 members free – A clear and equal financial benefit to all.

You only pay for members you actually have – You only pay for each complete band of 25 members. Your affiliation fee corresponds to your ability to pay, i.e. you won’t be required to pay for members without the corresponding revenue.

Smaller bands are fairer on all clubs – Smaller bands mean affiliation fees are more closely aligned with membership and revenue, and also reduces any incentive to underreport membership.

It encourages growth of individual membership and tennis in Canterbury – Every club gets its first 49 members free, and cheaper band fees encourage smaller clubs to affiliate which will almost immediately grow the sport of tennis in Canterbury.

Vote Bands align membership, affiliation fees AND voting rights – This is important so that voting power reflects both membership numbers AND financial contributions to TCRI.

It uses the same membership numbers and collects the same revenue as 6 Bands – The Vote Band model is based on the same membership numbers as the 6 Band model and will provide TCRI with the same affiliation fee revenue.

The TNZ collection method has no impact on how regions collect affiliation fees – It is up to each region to determine a fair and equitable method to collect affiliation fees. The Vote Band model does this and it will collect sufficient TNZ fees from every member.

Vote Bands will immediately resolve the unfairness and other issues created by the 6 band model – It will provide a fairer spread of the overall reduction in affiliation fees, a fairer per-head cost across all members and It will collect sufficient TNZ fees from all members. The Vote Band model is also designed to encourage growth of tennis in Canterbury.

A redistribution of the overall reduction in affiliation fees is fair – A minority of members (8 out of 25) will pay more with a change to the Vote Band model, however this is fair and necessary to resolve the inequities created by the 6 Band model. The ‘worse off’ a member is under Vote Bands, the more unfairly advantaged they were under 6 Bands at the expense of the other members.

All members without exception will be better off under the Vote Band model compared to 2016/2017 affiliation fees paid – and Vote Bands will spread the benefit of the reduction in affiliation fees fairly amongst all members.

There is no benefit in delaying improvement – Any delay will only increase the unfairness created by the 6 Band model, as the disadvantaged and advantaged will suffer or benefit for another year. A thorough review can still take place, but there is absolutely no benefit in delaying improvement until the next AGM or after.

There is no benefit in delaying improvement to the collection method.

The sooner we have an improved collection method the better.

Please support the Vote Band model at the 2018 TCRI AGM.