Changes

The rent for space in the Consuls' home was set at $2 for 2007, doubling each year thereafter. In practice it increased in a 1-2-5 sequence for the first few years, and there were exceptions made in the year that rent was paid monthly, thus in the tenth year of the contract (2016) the rent was be $2000. It is expected that multiples of two will be more strictly applied in future.

The logic for the exponential payments is that at the time the first contract was signed, $2 was a significant fraction of Society reserves. The predictable increases were intended to give the Society both the incentive and the time needed to obtain a [[Headquarters]] outside the Consuls' home; not to impoverish or take over the Society (though should the Board fail to obtain a Headquarters, that would soon be the effect). Consuls have expressed a willingness to negotiate lower or no increases if the [[Board]] demonstrates concrete progress toward the goal of an independent Headquarters facility.

Consuls have expressed a willingness to negotiate lower or no increases if the [[Board]] demonstrates concrete progress toward the goal of an independent Headquarters facility. To encourage this, starting with the 2016 contract, payment will be split in half; the first half due in January, and the second half in July, giving Consuls the opportunity to waive half the fee if the Society — in their sole opinion — has made significant progress toward moving outin the first six months. Should the rent be thus reduced, the following year's rent would be twice the reduced amount. Thus continuous progress would result in freezing the rent.