IF city taxes are going to be replaced with upkeep costs, then how about a way
to maintain a budget / account for the city that we can put funds into for
upkeep and improvements. I suggest that the Town Hall module be the central
location of maintaining the cities finical well being and thus we would be
able to deposit funds into an account there much like our personal accounts in
the banks. The difference is that we could not take money out of the account
but rather only allocate the money for upkeep or buy new modules for the city.
Maybe we can use the funds to buy / improve guards and purchase some of the
city items from the city shop like lamps, fountains, etc. The concept is that
if you put in amount X and then set the city budget to cover your upkeep, then
the upkeep cost would come of out of this fund automatically when needed and
would require little interaction for the player. It would be much like city
taxes are now with the ability to pay several months in advance, however; with
the account method we would be able to increase the funds for other options as
well. This will also benefit city owners that are unable to play for long
periods of time, as anyone could deposit money to the city account in the Town
Hall and the upkeep would be taken as needed. Just an thought.

Nemsis