What happens when the money leaves town?

At our workshop, one of the questions I was unable to answer concerned how to settle the account books when community money remained unredeemed after a period of time. I had a chance to send some e-mails back and forth with the $$IMF's Secretary and Treasurer, Bill Krebs. He also gave me a couple $$ phone numbers in case anyone has further questions. I won't post those here, but you can e-mail me if you'd like to follow up by phone.

BILL-->The Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation ("SSIMF") is incorporated under the Society Act. The initial funding was by way of loans from some of the initial Directors. As you can see at our website the $$s, bills and silver coin feature local artists. This makes the $$s, collectable. The $$s trade at par with the CDN$ and are accepted at the local banks and credit union. Most merchants accept the, $$s. Some merchants act as cash centers and sell the $$s.

SCOTT-->Thanks for getting back to me. An unrelated question arose yesterday at my group's meeting with respect to how the accounts are handled when a $$ leaves circulation (i.e. when someone takes a $$ home as asouvenir and never spends it). A colleague from a small town Chamber of Commerce has encountered a problem in their town's Chamber of Commerce Dollar program, where after 8 years ofoperation, 30000 Chamber of Commerce dollars have been purchased but never redeemed. While this could represent $30,000 profit, she is at a loss for what to do with the $30,000 liability in their books. From reading your website, it is apparent that in Salt Springs this is encouraged by having the bills designed by local artists, printing them in limited editions, etc... Do you ever eliminate the outstanding liability in the account book? Or is this a non-issue because themoney just stays in the SSIMF's interest-bearing account and could be swapped for $$ at any time?

BILL-->We had our Financial Statements audited one year. The determination was that all sales of $$s net of redemptions was Deferred (unearned)Revenue. Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has accepted this position.