How Flagstaff's new money works
By Lisa Rayner - Tea Party Publisher

Flagstaff Neighborly Notes are a local medium of exchange. They are backed by our mutual skills and labor as well as by our trust in each other.

Anyone may choose to accept and spend Flagstaff Neighborly Notes. You do not need to be officially signed up to accept or spend the currency. However, to receive a starter-kit, including the equivalent of $40 in Flagstaff Neighborly Notes, you must sign up for the program and pay $10 in U.S. currency. You must also agree to offer some type of goods or services to others. Services may be very simple things like baby-sitting, dog-walking or grocery shopping. Once you are signed up, the goods or services you offer will be listed several times a year in the "Flagstaff Neighborly Notes Community Pages" directory which is published in Flagstaff Tea Party. If you would like additional listings under different headings, the cost is $1
per additional listing.

What if I have nothing to offer? How can I participate? Almost everyone has something to offer others if they stop to think about it. But if you do not want to sign up, you may still assist the development of the currency system by agreeing to accept Flagstaff Neighborly Notes as change when you spend U.S. currency at businesses that accept Notes. You may also swap your U.S. currency for Neighborly Notes at any business that accepts Neighborly Notes. This helps to distribute the currency more widely within the community.

Do I have control over how many Flagstaff Neighborly Notes I or my business accepts? Absolutely. You decide how many Flagstaff Neighborly Notes you will accept per purchase. You may change your policy at any time. Here are a few ways to accept the currency: 
- As a maximum percentage per purchase. 
- As a maximum total per purchase. 
- Only on purchase minimums above a certain amount. 
- On certain days of the week, times of the day or during off hours. 
- Only on certain items or types of merchandise, such as sale items.

Will my business be able to easily re-spend the Flagstaff Neighborly Notes it receives? Yes. Because the currency is only issued to businesses that also accept the currency, you will not be flooded with more currency than you can easily re-spend. As more business and individuals choose to accept the currency, the choices will multiply. Here are some ways to re-spend the currency: 
- Pay it to employees or yourself as part of wages or bonuses. While we encourage an hour of labor to be worth the $10 "hour," you may pay more or less per hour. Flagstaff Neighborly Notes are flexible. Employees must receive the federal minimum wage in U.S. dollars. Employees may agree to voluntarily accept any amount above that in Flagstaff Neighborly Notes. 
- Buy goods and services for your business. Look through the Flagstaff Neighborly Notes Community Pages. Tell us if you are looking for something not listed and we will work to sign up businesses that meet your needs. 
- Make donations to community organizations. 
- Customers may receive Flagstaff Neighborly Notes as change or trade their U.S. currency for your Notes. 
- Likewise, as a business owner, you can "buy" Flagstaff Neighborly Notes from your cash register with your own personal check or cash in order to use Notes for personal (non-business) purposes.

How would my business's bookkeeping and accounting procedures handle Flagstaff Neighborly Notes? - Store them in your cash registers underneath the $10, $5 and $1 bills. 
- Treat Flagstaff Neighborly Notes as petty cash. Simply record their dollar value. You do not need to record the numbers of Flagstaff Neighborly Notes received and spent separately from Federal dollars. You do not need a barter account. 
- Collect sales tax in U.S. currency.

At the Flagstaff Neighborly Notes "bank" at Flagstaff Hemp Company, 111 E. Aspen, #4, you may exchange denominations and replace damaged or worn-out Notes.

Community currencies are legal. Federal law states that such currencies may not look like federal dollars, that denominations must be worth at least one dollar, and that people must report the U.S. dollar value of professional trades made using community currencies as taxable income.

Monetary policy decisions are made by consensus at monthly Flagstaff Neighborly Notes meetings. All community members may attend the meetings. Businesses and individuals that are signed up to accept the
currency are eligible to participate in consensus decision-making. The next FNN meeting will be held September 20 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flagstaff Center for Compassionate Communication, 2677 E. 7th Avenue.

An 11-year resident of Flagstaff, Lisa Rayner holds an Interpretation of Natural Resources degree from Northern Arizona University. She is a master gardener and permaculture consultant. She is also the author of Growing Food in the Southwest Mountains.