Bill: Pending Plot Regulations Act

[Bezzergeezer]

A

BILL

To

Ease the Plot Crisis​

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Plot Regulations Act,' or the ‘PRA’
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been co-authored by: Speaker Bezzergeezer, Rep. Kaiserin_, Rep. Omegabiebel, Rep. Pepecuu, and Gribble19
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by: Rep. Kaiserin_, Rep. Omegabiebel, and Rep. Pepecuu

2 - Reasons
(1) There is an ongoing crisis of land availability in Redmont.
(2) There is currently a severe lack of CBD plots catered towards new players.
(3) Auction prices for evictions are pushed sky high by some people who have a lot of capital and plots
(4) A decrease in the plot cap will ensure that a small handful of people are not able to hoard land.
(5) A progressive increase in plot taxes will incentivize land owners to sell their unneeded plots, creating greater availability.
(6) Plots that are actively contributing to the economy should be exempted from taxes, up to a certain point.
(7) An increase in new player CBD plots will give new players a lower barrier to entry for access to shopfronts near spawn, allowing them to kickstart their businesses and contribute to the economy.
(8) This bill aims to depress plot prices by adding a levy to those who buy plots while they already have a lot of plots.
(9) In conjunction with enforcement of the Property Tax Evasion crime, these provisions will ensure that the average Redmontian has greater opportunity to acquire and make use of land.

3 - Auction Levy
(1) There shall be a tax on all eviction auctions held by the Department of Construction and Transportation based on the amount of plots the player making the winning bid has at bid submission.
(a) Town plots, wild plots, and residential plots shall be exempt from both the tax itself and the calculations for the tax.
(2) The tax shall be in addition to the winning bid price for the plot. It shall only be paid if that player has won the auction.
(3) The following tax schedule shall be used:

Amount of plots owned by winning bidder (Both numbers inclusive, but not inclusive of the plot won)	Tax (as a % of bid offer)
0-9	0%
10-14	25%
15-20	50%
20+	75%

(4) Bids by players who own enough plots to warrant an auction levy tax must include the amount of tax that would be paid if the bid is successful. Bidders are responsible for calculating this, and must include the tax amount in their bid message as a separate amount from the amount they are bidding.
(5) If an auction is won by a player who is required to pay auction levy tax, the Department of Construction and Transportation shall charge the tax to the player’s balance, on top of the bid offer. The tax must be charged before the won property is transferred. If the player is found to be unable to pay the tax, the property will not be transferred, a new auction will be held, and the offending player shall be charged with Auction Levy Neglect.
(6) Any bid with a miscalculated or completely missing tax when the bid should include one shall be considered invalid.


4 - Creation of New Player CBD Plots
(1) The Department of Construction and Transportation shall conduct a review of all non-new player CBD plots for suitability of the establishment of new player CBD plots.
(a) A CBD plot that is viable for acquisition shall meet the following criteria:
(i) Is a space of 100 or more blocks in area
(ii) The player renting the plot shall have less than 6 hours of playtime in the last 30 days.
(iii) The rental period for the CBD plot is within 1 month of the date of review.
(a) The Department of Construction and Transportation shall evaluate and rank the viable plots in consideration of location and size.
(b) The Department of Construction and Transportation shall complete this review within 7 calendar days of the signage of this bill, and report their findings to the sitting Congress and the sitting President of the Commonwealth of Redmont.

(2) Once the Department of Construction and Transportation has reported on its findings,
(a) The sitting Congress has to approve or reject pursuance by the Department of Construction and Transportation for the acquisition of the CBD plots that were deemed viable through a resolution.
(b) The Department of Construction and Transportation shall pursue the acquisition of these CBD plots under the ‘Reveille Eminent Domain Act’, citing ‘Urban Renewal’ as justification for pursuing the acquisition.
(c) The Department of Construction and Transportation shall base its “fair offer” to the plot owner (as required by the ‘Reveille Eminent Domain Act’) based on the value of recently completed auction listings for CBD plots of similar size, as well as the base rental cost of the CBD plot.
(d) The Department of Construction and Transportation shall pursue 3 viable CBD plots based on the rankings in its findings.
(e) The funds used to pay for this acquisition of CBD plots shall be derived from the DCGovernment’s balance.

(3) After the acquisitions are concluded,
(a) The Department of Construction and Transportation is to establish new New Player CBD Plots as follows:
(i) If the viable plot has an original size of under or equal to 150 blocks, it is to be directly converted to a New Player CBD plot without any splitting.
(ii) If the viable plot has an original size of over 150 blocks, it shall be split into 2 equal parts, with walls in between to divide the two New Player CBDs, and both having access to any pavement surrounding the plot.

(4) Once the New Player CBD plots are partitioned, the Department of Construction and Transportation shall:
(a) Make an announcement in the DemocracyCraft discord server in #government-announcements regarding:
(i) the availability of the New Player CBD plots.
(ii) the New Player CBD plots’ respective locations.
(b) Create a post thread in the DemocracyCraft discord server in #realestate, for a plot lottery in which at its conclusion:
(i) The Department shall pick as many valid entries as there are newly established New Player CBD plots, and provide them with the rights to rent a New Player CBD plot of their choice, on a first come first serve basis.
(ii) Should there not be enough entries as newly established New Player CBD plots, the remaining New Player CBD plots are to be released to the public for rental, abiding by the procedures for a standard New Player CBD plot.

5 - Amendments
(1) §16 of the Property Standards Act shall be amended as follows:

“(1) C Plots. A citizen may not own more than 50 30 commercial properties.
(2) R Plots. A citizen may not own more than 2 residential properties.
(3) I Plots. A citizen may not own more than 2 industrial properties
(4) S Plots. A citizen may not own more than 6 skyscraper properties
(5) BM Plots. A citizen may not own more than 1 black market property.
(6) Government Subsidized Commercial Spaces. A citizen may not own more than 2 of each type of Government Subsidized Commercial Space.
(7) Realtors. Any citizen with a Realtor job may exceed these limitations by 5 plots each
(a) excluding BM and Government Subsidized Commercial Spaces.
(b) provided the plots exceeding these limitations are for the purpose of reselling the plot within 30 days of purchasing the plot.
(8) Plots located within towns are not subject to the above plot limits. Each town shall retain jurisdiction to create their own plot limits for plots located within their town.”

(2) §13.(1) of the Taxation Act shall be amended as follows:

“13 - Property Tax
(1) Property taxes shall be calculated using y=0.25*1.16^(x+4)+0.3(x+4)²+2.5(x+4)-25, where x is the amount of plots a player owns, and y is the amount taxed per day. Taxes will be rounded down to the nearest cent.
(1) Where x is the amount of plots a player owns, and y is the amount taxed per day, property taxes shall be calculated as follows: y = 2.5(x^2)-6x”

(2) The Property Tax chart in §13.(1) shall be updated accordingly.

(3) §13.(3) of the Taxation Act shall be amended as follows:

“(3) If a plot is registered as an active storefront, that plot shall not be calculated in determining property tax. Only up to 7 plots per person may be excluded from the property tax calculations in this way.
(a) Plots must be manually requested for this exemption through the Department of Construction and Transportation. Requests must demonstrate proof of active storefront presence on the designated plot in order to qualify for tax exemption.
(i) To qualify as an active storefront, a plot must have multiple chest shops that are accessible to the public, and are frequently stocked with goods of value that are sold for profit. Further, the primary function of the plot must be its function as a storefront; i.e., chest shops cannot be added to an office building in order to qualify as a storefront. The Department of Construction and Transportation has discretion over what does and does not qualify for this exemption, and has to enforce the above definition fairly, reasonably, and honestly, without creating absurd outcomes.
(b) If a plot exempted through this method is no longer used as an active storefront, the owner of the plot must inform the Department of Construction and Transportation within 7 days, and the plot shall no longer qualify for exemption. Failure to do so shall be considered Property Tax Evasion, enforced in a summary fashion.
(c) If a plot exempted through this method changes ownership, the previous owner of the plot must inform the Department of Construction and Transportation within 7 days. Failure to do so shall be considered Property Tax Evasion, enforced in a summary fashion. The plot may once again qualify for exemption upon request by the new owner through the method outlined in 13.3.a.
(d) The Department of Construction and Transportation shall be empowered to, and be charged with, conducting regular and unannounced inspections of plots that are listed as active storefronts in order to ensure that they meet the standards of an active storefront as determined by the Department.”

(3) §9 of the Commercial Standards Act shall be amended as follows:
“9 - Tax Fraud
(1) The fraudulent non-payment or underpayment of actual tax liabilities due. There are several types of tax evasion:

Personal Tax Evasion
The act of intentionally or maliciously transferring, funds to one or more personal balances or company bank accounts with no legitimate purpose, with the result that less tax is paid.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Property Tax Evasion
The act of intentionally or maliciously transferring property to one or more persons over which they have no legal ownership without a legitimate purpose, with the result that less tax is paid.” To combat, said behaviour, a merged plot needs to be owned by the same person even after it has been merged.
Individual Fine: Up to $10,000 + Damages + up to 10 mins Jail

Auction Levy Evasion:
(i) Classification: Indictable Criminal Offense
Taking actions with the sole intent to avoid paying the auction levy while still receiving the plot or the benefit from it.
First offense: Plot eviction + fine of up to $5,000 or 30% of the winning bid, whichever is higher
Subsequent offenses: Plot eviction + fine of up to $5,000 or up to 30% of the winning bid, whichever is higher + auction ban of up to 2 weeks

Auction Levy Neglect:
(i) Classification: Summary Criminal Offense
Failure to pay the required auction levy after winning an auction.
First offense: Fine of $2,000 or 10% of the winning bid, whichever is higher.
Subsequent offenses: Fine of $5,000 or 30% of the winning bid, whichever is higher.”


6 - Transition
(1) Upon the enactment of this bill, all persons who exceed the new limit on commercial properties will be required to put properties up for auction until they are within the new limit. These auctions must be public.
(2) If an individual has failed to auction off enough properties to be within the new limit within three weeks after the enactment of this bill, the Department of Construction and Transportation shall be charged with confiscating and auctioning properties from that individual until the limit is met. The Department shall have the sole discretion to decide which properties to confiscate, but shall aim to confiscate land that is not in active use, if at all possible.