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Meetings are no longer 1st and 3rd Tuesdays.  For the next meeting date, call 408-4974 or mdecamp@q.com

Tucson Life Cache (T.L.C.) is creating a locally-based economy in Tucson that promotes self-reliance, environmental sustainability, community, fairness, civic and neighborhood pride, and humane commerce.  We are a community-based group that is seeking to further economic self-reliance and promote sustainability in and around Tucson, Arizona. 

LOCAL CURRENCY FAQ

Q: What is “local currency”?

A: A local currency is a method of exchange that supplements the federal dollar system. We all know the financial

reality facing us now –corporate bailouts, foreclosures, and rising unemployment rates. Conditions like these 

force us to reevaluate core beliefs about our financial future. Local currency empowers members in a community

because the currency circulates within a restricted geographical area. The community’s assets stay within that area

instead of ending up in another part of the world. Wealth is created and enjoyed by the people involved in the

creation of goods and services in their local community. Local currencies can use“scrip,” a ledger system to

track credits and debits, a barter system, or other methods of exchange.

Q: Sounds too good to be true. Is it legal?

A: Yes! According to the founders of Ithaca Hours, one of the foremost and most wellestablished local currency

systems in the US: Local currencies are legal, and like US dollars a form of taxable income. The Federal Reserve

and the Internal Revenue Service have no prohibitions on local currencies as long as their value is fixed to

the US dollar, the minimum denomination is worth at least $1, and the bills do not look like federal dollars.

Q: Has this been tried in other places?

A: Yes. During the Depression, local currencies flourished.

Today, you can find local currencies all across the country including:

• Ithaca Hours in Ithaca, New York (The most
well-known & established local currencysystem)

• Detroit Cheers in Detroit, Michigan (profiled
on USA Today’s television program

“Silver Linings” section 4/05/09)

• Pittsboro Plenty in Pittsboro, North Carolina
(profiled by Amy Goodman on her radio
program Democracy Now 4/09/09)

• Humboldt Community Currency in
Humboldt County, California

• Madison Hours in Madison, Wisconsin

• Corvallis Hour Exchange in Corvallis, Oregon

• BerkShares in Great
Barrington, Massachusetts

Q: What goods and services are available?

A: That depends on you and other community members. Most currency systems include a broad range of goods

and services that include food, household goods, clothing, automotive services, home repair, and even health

care. The key to success for any local currency is the participation of many different kinds of local businesses,

cottage industries run by individuals who are interested in supplementing their existing income by sharing

their talents with their community.

Q: What system will you use?

A: Tucson Life Cache will be offering a ledger system and a scrip system.  Through research,

we have found that ledger systems work best as a small-scale, person-to-person exchange system,

whereas scrip systems work best as a medium of exchange between individuals and businesses.

Q: Which system will be available first?

A: The Ledger system will be available first, then shortly after the scrip system will be available.

Q: When will the systems be available?

A: The ledger system will be available near the end of August. The scrip

system will be available in the near future; a finite date has yet to be set.

For more info about TLC, please check out these pages

or

(520) 408-4974
mdecamp@q.com

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