Mar 3, 2025 Budget Meeting Notes

Role	Name	Voting Member
Chair	Steven Lupien	Yes
Member	J.J. Siler	Yes
Member	Jose Velazquez	Yes
Member	Mercy	Yes
Member	Kriss Baird	Yes
Member	Kristijan Kowalsky	Yes
Member	Jose Maria Francisco Otegui Alvarez	Yes
Member	Andreas Pletscher (standing in for Rita Mistry)	Yes
Member	Shunsuke Murasaki	Yes

Attendees

• Voting Members (listed above)

• Additional Attendees:

  • Lawrence Clark (Intersect)

  • Lloyd Duhon (Secretary)

  • Dave Dionisio (Observer)

  • Nicolas Cerny (Observer)

  • Simo Simovic (Observer)

Absentees

• Rita Mistry (official seat held by Andreas as proxy)

Agenda

1. Updates from the Proposed Budget Process Pivot

2. Net Change Limit (NCL) Timeline

3. DRep Involvement & Committee Roles

4. Vote on Revised Process and Timelines

Summary

The meeting on March 3, 2025, centered on significant feedback received from multiple sources (including community channels and Charles’s recent remarks) concerning how budget proposals, vendor selection, and approvals are handled. The result was a proposed pivot to ensure DReps are more explicitly involved as final arbiters of budget proposals.

Key points:

• Open Proposal Submissions: Anyone in the ecosystem can submit a proposal; committees serve primarily in an advisory or technical review capacity rather than as gatekeepers.

• DReps’ Ratification: DReps will ultimately vote to approve, reject, or request changes to proposals. Committees will offer expertise (e.g., technical audits, financial oversight) but will not be the ones deciding outcomes.

• Timeline and Next Steps:

  • A new open-proposal form/process is targeted to start by March 7.

  • Proposals are to be published by March 31; from April onward, community and DReps review them, leading to a Reconciliation Workshop in April/May.

  • The Treasury Withdrawal date remains targeted for early June 2025 to minimize further delays.

• Net Change Limit (NCL):

  • Previously planned for early March, now tentatively pushed to March 25 to allow multiple data models (Intersect and the CF’s Monte Carlo data used to show treasury drawdown risks).

  • Provide time to socialize the Civics’ percentage based Net Change Limit model to be shared with DReps.

  • There was extensive discussion about whether to finalize the NCL sooner, wait until the Reconciliation Workshop, or do a two-stage approach (one NCL now, another later).

• Concerns & Reservations: Several members emphasized that adding complexity might risk further delay. Others worried about ensuring DReps can handle the volume of proposals. Despite these concerns, the committee agreed to proceed with the revised process, subject to continued monitoring and engagement with DReps.

Budget Process Pivot Discussion

• Context: Lawrence Clark presented the feedback from community channels. The consensus is that budget proposals should not be filtered solely by committees but rather be made available for direct DRep consideration.

• Committee Advisory Role: Committees will:

  1. Help proposers shape or refine proposals.

  2. Provide recommended technical or financial auditing resources.

  3. Offer subject-matter expertise to inform DReps.

• Communications & Outreach: A priority is ensuring DReps understand their expanded role. Work is underway to prepare announcements and guidelines, possibly including sessions in Tokyo and other venues to educate DReps.

Net Change Limit (NCL) Discussion

• Delay to March 25: The committee debated whether to keep the original early-March timeline or wait to gather all modeling data. The final consensus was to target March 25 to allow for thorough DRep review.

• Multiple Pathways:

  • DReps could adopt an NCL in late March and still adjust if the Reconciliation Workshop finds an alternative amount.

  • Some members expressed concern about potentially compressing the budget timeline further.

Vote on the Revised Process & Timeline

A motion was presented to adopt:

1. The new open-proposal approach (committees as advisors, DReps making final decisions).

2. The updated timeline, including March 25 as the target to propose the NCL on-chain.

Vote Result

• Yes: 6

• No: 3

• Outcome: Motion carried (6–3).

Those voting “no” cited concerns about complexity and schedule slippage but affirmed willingness to participate going forward.

Action Items

1. Open Proposal Portal

   • Owner: Intersect Team

   • Deadline: ~March 7

   • Description: Finalize and announce the new open proposal submission form to the community.

2. Communicate Budget Pivot & NCL

   • Owner: Intersect Communications Team

   • Deadline: Ongoing, with initial announcements by ~March 7–10

   • Description: Publish clear guidelines about the revised process, DRep involvement, and how/when the Net Change Limit proposals will appear on-chain.

3. Compile Audit Resources

   • Owner: Technical Committee & Budget Committee Liaisons

   • Deadline: Mid-March

   • Description: Generate a list of independent technical/financial audit providers for teams that submit proposals.

4. Gather & Post Net Change Limit Models

   • Owner: Lawrence / Jose G. (Civics) / CF Team

   • Deadline: Before March 25

   • Description: Provide Intersect’s model of funds draw down, CF’s Monte Carlo, and the Civics’ percentage-based proposal in a central location accessible to DReps.