Bonds, Taxes, and Neighbour Deals in SimCity 3000

Contributor/author(s): Kyle D.J.

This article details some key financial aspects of SimCity 3000:

• Bonds ("Loans")

• Tax Revenues

• Neighbour Deals

Bonds ("Loans")

The largest bond that can be issued is §25000.

The maximum number of bonds you can have at once is 10.

Bonds are paid back over 10 years (and cannot be paid off early).

The monthly payment for each §1000 of a bond is §10.  Thus with this repayment rate, bonds cost you 20% of the bond value.

Example

Issue a bond for §25000:

• The monthly payment is 25000 / 1000 * §10 = §250.

• The total amount repaid will be §250 * 12 months * 10 years = §30000.

• Thus this bond cost you §30000 - §25000 = §5000 (which is 20% of the bond).

Tax Revenues

Tax revenues for each of R, C, and I are determined by multiplying the following values:

• R/C/I tax rate (0 to 22)

• R/C/I population

• Average land value (35 to 255)

• Tax "transmogrifier"

• 12 months per year

The tax transmogrifiers relate land values to taxes, and are:

R   0.0035
C   0.0045
I   0.0050

If the actual average land value is less than 35, then 35 will be used for tax revenue calculations. (This ensures that you will always have some tax revenue even if your city's land value is worthless.)

Example

Industrial tax revenues for a city with:

• 50000 industrial population

• industrial tax rate of 7%

• average land value of 40

Industrial tax revenue = 0.07 X 50000 X 40 X 0.0050 X 12 = §8400 per year.

The charts below show the possible range of tax revenues for various building types.  There is a chart for each of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.  Each chart shows the revenues for low, medium, and high density.  Residential has values for low, medium, and high land-value properties; commercial for low and high land values; industrial for dirty and clean.  The revenues are simoleans per tile per year per percentage tax rate.  The coloured lines show the possible range of revenues due to the possible range of land values.  But since the tax revenue calculation described above uses the average land value across the map, then the revenues will not likely be those at the tops of the lines on the charts, especially for industrial.  The bottom to middle portions of the lines on the charts are more likely representative of the expected tax revenues.

"Huh??"  Okay, basically the charts show:

• Higher densities give higher tax revenues.
• Higher land values give higher tax revenues.

Neighbour Deals

To be offered a business deal by a neighbour city, your treasury must be below §10 000 and your population larger than 5000 Sims.

The buy and sell price rates are random, but are limited to the following ranges (prices are Simoleans per 1000 units per month):

Low   High   Deal
~~~   ~~~~   ~~~~
 8     13    Power
 8     13    Water
 5     10    Garbage

(Note that the game has an error in that it displays garbage prices per *100* units per month.  However the calculations actually use prices per *1000* units per month, as stated above.)

Tip: Refuse deals until you are offered the best price.

Services are always bought or sold in 1000-unit multiples (examples: 6000, 14 000, or 57 000 units per month).  If you are selling a service to a neighbour, the smallest deal that can be made is for 1000 units per month.

If you are selling a service to a neighbour, then the deal will support the needs of 25% of their population.

If you are buying a service from a neighbour, then you will be charged for the quantity of units that you actually use. However, there is a minimum charge you must always pay, and this is equal to the cost of the services that would be required to support 10% of your population. But in no case will this charge be less than (in Simoleans per month):

30   Buy power.
25   Buy water.
20   Export garbage.

The units required to support 1000 Sims are:

500   Power
200   Water
650   Garbage

The penalty for cancelling a deal prematurely is a one-time fee equal to 25 times the monthly deal amount. But in no case will this fee be less than §500.

Example #1

Selling power to a neighbour city of 750 000 Sims:

• This deal must support 0.25 X 750000 = 187500 Sims in the other city. 
• These Sims will demand 187500 / 1000 X 500 = 93750 units of power per month. This is rounded to 94000 units per month. 
• Assume the random price rate is §12 per 1000 units per month. You will be paid 94000 / 1000 X §12 = §1128 per month. 
• If you cancel this deal prematurely you will pay a one-time penalty fee of §1128 X 25 = §28200.

Example #2

Buying water from a neighbour city when your population is 400 000 Sims:

• The actual amount you pay per month will be based upon your actual usage.  However there is a minimum amount you must pay. This minimum is based on supporting 10% of your population, 0.1 X 400000 = 40000 Sims. 
• These Sims demand 40000 / 1000 X 200 = 8000 units of water per month. 
• Assume the random price rate is §11 per 1000 units per month. Thus the minimum charge is 8000 / 1000 X §11 = §88 per month. 
• If you actually use more than 8000 units of water per month, then you will pay for the actual amount. For example if you use 12000 units of water in one particular month, then you will pay 12000 / 1000 X §11 = §132 that month instead of the minimum §88. 
• If you cancel this deal prematurely you will pay a penalty fee of §88 X 25 = §2200.

Example #3

Same as example #2 except your city is only 40 000 Sims:

• The minimum amount is based on supporting 0.1 X 40000 = 4000 Sims.
• These Sims demand 4000 / 1000 X 200 = 800 units of water per month. The smallest deal allowed is 1000 units per month. Therefore we use 1000 instead of 800.
• Thus the minimum charge is 1000 / 1000 X §11 = §11 per month. However, this amount is less than the absolute minimum amount specified earlier for buying water, which is §25 per month. Thus your actual minimum monthly charge will be §25 per month, not §11. (And again, if your consumption is high enough than you will pay for the actual usage.)
• If you cancel this deal prematurely you will pay a penalty fee of §25 X 25 = §625.

See also
The economy
Land value specifics