Department of the Treasury (Überstadt)

Department of the Treasury
Agency overview
Headquarters	Rosewood
Minister responsible	HM King Adam I, Secretary of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury is the Überstadti governmental department responsible for enacting fiscal policy according to legislation, as well as collecting taxes and maintaining the official database of citizens. The current Secretary of the Treasury is King Adam.

History

Governmental agencies originating during the Proto-Überstadti Era were usually not created in whole at one time, but on an ad hoc basis under the direction of the founders. Money to contribute to Überstadt began to be saved during this era, but the treasury had not been formally organized; it instead evolved into existence, beginning with a small envelope in which the early leadership stored the meager funds that had been raised. This was effectively the case throughout most of the Kritarchial Era, until the Treasury was officially mentioned in the code issued by the newly-autocratic Chief Judge in 2011. At some point, there was discussion of giving the Treasury monetary roles in addition to its primary fiscal duties. Following the November Revolution, King Adam appointed himself Secretary of the Treasury. The first legislation directly mentioning the Treasury under the monarchy was the royal decree that established the present form of the über as the national currency. Until the currency was abolished, the Treasury controlled the Royal Chocolate Reserve backing it.

Responsibilities

The functions of the Department of the Treasury include:

• Collecting all taxes, duties, and all other money owed to the Kingdom of Überstadt
• Paying all bills of the Kingdom
• Allocating money to special funds as directed by Parliament
• Managing all government accounts and finances
• Advising on fiscal and trade policy
• Enforcing tax laws
• Maintaining the government database of Überstadti citizens
• Operating the People's Economic Aid System

Peripheral functions include storing miscellaneous government property not in use and issuing national identity cards. The Royal Chocolate Reserve was abolished in June 2014, but most of the chocolate bars have not been liquidated, and are instead kept in the Treasury facility.

People's economic aid system

Main article: People's Economic Aid System

The Treasury operates the People's Economic Aid System (PEAS), which is Überstadt's welfare program. The largest part of the system is the Income Supplement Program, which gives low-income citizens a payment to supplement their income once each month. To determine the amounts of the payments, the Treasury calculates all of its assets and credit, divides that sum by five, and divides that amount equally among eligible citizens.

The other two programs of PEAS are the Reemployment Assistance Program, which partially compensates job-hunting expenses for citizens who have lost their foreign job, and the Public Loan Program, which allows citizens to borrow small amounts of money from the treasury with no interest.