[ARIN-consult] Consultation on Approaches for Adjusting the ARIN Registration Services Plan Fee Schedule

[John Curran]

> On Apr 6, 2024, at 12:26 AM, Adam Brenner via ARIN-consult <arin-consult at arin.net> wrote:
> 
> On 4/3/24 09:40, (ARIN) wrote:
>> Option B
>> Introduce a structured approach to fee adjustments, allowing
>> for an annual increase of no more than 5%, subject to
>> approval by the Board of Trustees. This strategy aims to
>> offer a predictable and manageable escalation in fees,
>> aligning more closely with the budget planning processes of
>> many organizations within our community.
> 
> As an active ARIN member who holds valid IP and ASN resources I strongly urge the rejection of option B.
> 
> If Option B was to pass, ARIN would be disincentivized to be fiscally conservative with fees collected from the community.
> 
> (1) Vendors that ARIN uses could increase their fees knowing ARIN can afford it by increase membership fees up to 5% with limited community involvement. ARIN would lose one tool for rate negotiation should option B be adopted.

That’s certainly possible – one would hope it wouldn’t occur due to the competitive rebid activity that 
we do for major expenses, but arguably it could alter the philosophy of individual vendors bidding and 
thus have a net effect… 

> (2) The ARIN organization *might* unofficially adopt a "use it or lose" budget policy. Suppose multiple consecutive fee increases were requested and approved under the proposed Option B, but the budget was never fully spent. The organization might find ways to spend the budget in order to justify its current spending but also preserve the option for future fee increases.

We presently engage in zero-based budgeting; i.e. we evaluate the planned activities during the 
budget process and then build cost-model to sustain them.  There’s some cases where we can’t 
necessarily foresee the activities more than 18 months advance and so there is indeed significant 
estimation involved.  It’s also worth noting that the budget is reviewed in detail by the ARIN Board 
Finance Committee until they are satisfied, and it is the Finance Committee that recommends the 
proposed budget for adoption. 

When it comes to incurring costs, we’re fairly aggressive in minimizing actual expenditures, but 
I will be the first to admit this is driven out of my desire to have as much “headroom” as possible 
throughout the year (because we cannot anticipate what snbudgetted expenses might arise and
need to be addressed…)

Excellent feedback Adam –  thank you for taking the time to participate! 
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers