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

[Dale W. Carder]

Thus spake William Herrin (bill at herrin.us) on Thu, Apr 04, 2024 at 02:25:46PM -0700:
> On Wed, Apr 3, 2024 at 10:53 AM John Curran <jcurran at arin.net> wrote:
> > > On Apr 3, 2024, at 1:20 PM, William Herrin <bill at herrin.us> wrote:
> > > That's great if inflation stays far enough below 5% to allow for the
> > > cost of new services, but what happens when it doesn't? Break the
> > > implicit promise of stability in the fees?
> >
> > So it is not the “cost of new services” that is the concern, it’s rather the routine
> > increase in ARIN’s own operations costs that we have to deal with…
> 
> Hi John,
> 
> I believe that's called "inflation." Things cost more this year than
> they did last year. Inflation isn't static. Some years it's more, some
> years it's less. It was well above 5% in 2021 and 2022, but well below
> for every other year ARIN has existed.
> 
> If the objective is for ARIN prices to track with inflation (i.e. for
> them to stay the same in "constant dollars"), shouldn't you do just
> that rather than pick a number out of a hat?

Some employee costs such as healthcare can vastly outpace inflation.  
So tracking inflation alone would not be sufficient.

In general I like the spirit of Option B, and ARIN needs to ensure its
viability while managing budgeting expectations.

Dale