Hi Kaj,
Yes, you understood my question and context correctly and I do appreciate the detailed answer. I am all in favor of optimizing CIT in general. ��
To add to Simon-Jan’s response: the charging scheme and budgets are based on predictions and estimates. The exact amount that the RIPE NCC receives depends on things like the number of members (new and old), the number of independent resources etc. And of course costs can't be predicted 100% either. From what I have seen the RIPE NCC staff does an outstanding job of staying within budget, but things happen and do change during the year. So it is almost impossible to have an exact 100% match between income and expenses. And the different can be redistributed amongst the members (either surplus or deficit). It is so much nicer to err on the side of caution and be able to give some surplus back at the end of the year :) Cheers, Sander