January 1st 2026. As I begin my second year as Planetary Governor, I can look back on the past year with a certain sense of modest satisfaction.
The resource shortage has been beaten... so far as resources are concerned, we are in the black across the board, and our resource base is still expanding day by day as the comet mines come online. In particular, both Solium and Neutronium are now available in the required quantities, and there is little reason to fear a renewed shortage in the foreseeable future.
The new colony on Mars has made tremendous strides... expanding in only ten months from a tiny outpost to a thriving planet of nearly three million people. Using industrial plant lent from Earth, they have started producing their own Factories... the first one has already been completed, and the second is expected to finish early in February. In another year or two, we will be able to reclaim the loaned industrial plant, and the Martian industries will be able to continue expanding by their own efforts. As the population on Mars continues to expand, we can start replacing the automated mines with regular mines crewed by Martian colonists... and send the automated mines out to the Asteroids.
Less satisfactory is the financial situation. We started last year with 38 thousand megabucks in treasury. We spent it all. Every penny. Then we printed some more money... and spent it, too. Tax revenues over the course of last year amounted to an additional 25 thousand megabucks. That, plus our original system treasury, totaled 63 thousand megabucks, of which we spent 40 thousand in twelve months. That leaves us with 23 thousand in treasury at the start of this second year... a net loss of 15 thousand megabucks from the treasury. Two more years of this will bankrupt us.
Hopefully, that won't happen. We have completed our phase-1 armaments plan, and have shut down both the ordinance factories and the fighter plants. Two of our eight dockyards have completed their expansion programs, and four of the remaining six will complete their expansions this year. That will reduce our daily expenditures considerably.
I have given the council my word that we will end this year, 2026, with a balanced budget.