Feb 24, 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	Rita Mistry	Yes
Member	Shunsuke Murasaki	Yes

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Attendees

• Voting Members (listed above)

• Additional Participants / Observers:

  • Dave Dionisio (Observer)

  • Lawrence Clark (Observer)

  • Lloyd Duhon (Secretary)

  • Micah Kendall (Observer)

  • Montgomery Tilton (Observer)

  • Nicolas Cerny (Observer)

  • Simo Simovic (Observer)

Absentees

• (None noted as absent from the voting roster)

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Agenda

1. Review of Recent Weekend Events & Community Feedback

2. Proposal/Vendor Selection Process & Hybrid RFP Model

3. Net Change Limit Update

4. Working Group Updates

   • Audit

   • Tax

   • Treasury

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Summary

1. Recent Weekend Events & Community Feedback

• Context:

  • Over the weekend, Charles Hoskinson made comments about how budget items, vendors, and committees should coordinate. Discussions on X (Twitter) and the Cardano Forum highlight the need for clarity on who selects vendors and how.

  • Mercy stressed the importance of avoiding perceptions of “insider deals.” The suggestion is that large or specialized work items might be pre-assigned, but others should be opened to RFP (Requests for Proposals).

2. Proposal/Vendor Selection & Hybrid RFP

• Current Committee Approach:

  • Some line items already have identified vendors (e.g., TSC uses certain third-party technical auditors). Other line items remain open to RFP.

  • Key Concern: The community wants clarity on which buckets or sub-items are effectively “allocated” vs. which are open for bidding.

• Potential Hybrid Model:

  • Each line item can explicitly state “RFP: Yes/No,” plus a note if an existing vendor is proposed.

  • This balances specialized “pre-agreed” tasks (e.g., known suppliers for core dev) with open opportunities for new entrants.

3. Net Change Limit (NCL) Update

• Current Status:

  • A proposed NCL governance action is live on Gov Tools for community feedback.

  • There has been debate over whether a 50% threshold or 67% threshold applies under the constitution vs. the parameter system. The civics committee is discussing it further.

  • A final rewrite of the NCL proposal is planned, with official publication likely the following week.

4. Working Group Updates

1. Audit Working Group

   • Jose Velazquez noted that the group’s initial Terms of Reference (ToR) must eventually align with DRep expectations, yet the group should propose a “straw man” approach to get informed feedback.

   • Action: The working group will gather prospective vendors (including Big Four) who can handle global nonprofit audits. Then present options to the DReps/community for final input.

2. Tax Working Group

   • Chris K. reported that the group continues collecting Intersect’s membership data to gauge a global footprint. Multiple international consultancies may be needed unless one large firm can cover all regions.

   • There is interest in coordinating closely with Audit to avoid duplicated costs.

3. Treasury Working Group

   • The group is still underpopulated. Lawrence will re-engage potential volunteers, clarifying how treasury management intersects with the budget process (e.g., custodial/withdrawal rules, partial “investment” proposals, stablecoin approaches).

5. Miscellaneous & Next Steps

• Intersect Communications:

  • There is a dedicated Budget Committee Twitter account (@IntersectCBC) managed by Lloyd. Members can coordinate in ClickUp (social calendar) to plan announcements.

  • ClickUp Access: Several committee members do not currently have access. Lawrence will re-invite everyone to ensure full visibility.

• Splitting Core & Operations:

  • Jose V. suggested separating “Core Maintenance” from “Intersect Operations” so the community doesn’t risk a single large approval failing and inadvertently defunding core maintenance. This is under consideration.

• Constitutional Delegates Budget:

  • Mercy indicated that the Constitutional Delegates group may need short-term funding to keep momentum. They are preparing a breakdown but no formal request yet.

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Action Items

1. Hybrid RFP Clarification

   • Owner: Budget Committee

   • Deadline: Ongoing

   • Description: Update the main budget spreadsheet (line items) to reflect whether each item is pre-assigned or open to RFP. Ensure transparency for the community.

2. Audit Working Group

   • Owner: Jose Velazquez (+ volunteers)

   • Deadline: Set kickoff meeting in coming weeks

   • Description:

     • Draft a straw-man Terms of Reference.

     • Identify prospective auditors for global nonprofit coverage.

     • Publish the approach and invite DRep/community feedback.

3. Tax & Audit Coordination

   • Owner: Kris K.

   • Deadline: Next 4–6 weeks

   • Description: Coordinate requests for proposals to avoid duplication (same or overlapping vendors). Collect essential data on membership geographies, cost estimates, etc.

4. ClickUp Onboarding

   • Owner: Lawrence / Lloyd

   • Deadline: ASAP

   • Description: Re-invite all committee members and relevant volunteers. Provide a short “how-to” doc so participants can review social/marketing postings, meeting plans, etc.

5. Core vs. Operations Split

   • Owner: Budget Committee & Core Sub-team

   • Deadline: To be discussed at next meeting

   • Description: Consider separating “Core Maintenance” and “Intersect Operations” into discrete proposals to avoid bundling critical chain maintenance with overhead.