7. Households would be equally able to acquire property, adjusted for needs and circumstances.

Consecrating all one has.

Offering everything is central to the concept of consecration as a celestial law. Doctrine and Covenants 72:15 instructs, “According to the law every man that cometh up to Zion must lay all things before the bishop in Zion.”

As it appeared in 1831 revelation manuscripts and the versions published in the Church’s The Evening and Morning Star newspaper and the Book of Commandments, what we know as D&C 42:30 contained this instruction: “And behold, thou shalt consecrate all thy properties” (emphasis added). It may be a surprise to read carefully from the corresponding verse as it appeared in the 1835 and current editions of the Doctrine and Covenants: “And behold, thou wilt . . . consecrate of thy properties . . . that which thou hast to impart” (Doctrine and Covenants 42:30, emphasis added).

There is reason to believe that this subtle change was made for practical, legal reasons. Formally deeding all property to the Church and having some portion deeded back created legal problems.* Instead, members with abundant property would deed to the Church “of [their] properties” the portion that exceeded their own needs.

The spirit of consecration and the net outcome are the same in either case. When those with abundant property deed to the Church only a “residue” or “surplus,” the resources they end up with are the same as if they had deeded everything and received a portion back. Likewise, for those with little property, the net result of deeding all to the Church and having everything deeded back with some added property is the same as retaining what they previously owned and being deeded only the added property.

____________________________
* See Nathan B. Oman, “‘I Will Give unto You My Law’: Section 42 as a Legal Text and the Paradoxes of Divine Law,” in Embracing the Law: Reading Doctrine and Covenants 42, eds. Joseph M. Spencer and Jeremiah John (Provo, UT: Maxwell Institute, 2017), 1–19.

Bank accounts.

Zion 21.0 would want households beginning their membership in Zion to have some money in a bank account from the first day. A modest amount of money put aside makes it easier to manage household finances and can serve as an emergency fund. For these reasons, each household entering Zion 21.0 would receive some money in a bank account owned by the household. 

Money in a bank account is like income: each household can draw on the money in the bank to purchase goods and services as it sees fit. To preserve equality, the amount of money in the bank account allocated to each household would be proportional to its equalized income and increase with household size. For instance, a one-person household might receive, say, $10,000 for his or her bank account, a two-person household would receive $14,140, a three-person household $17,320, etc. Circumstances and any relevant needs other than household size would also be taken into account.

After receiving their initial bank account allocation, households would be free to add to their bank accounts through savings or withdraw money to spend.

Housing.

Creating equality is considerably more complicated for housing than for bank accounts. In the United States, about two-thirds of households own their home and the remaining one-third rent their home. When entering Zion 21.0, each household would offer any housing it owned as a consecrated gift. Each household would receive a certain amount of money in a housing account maintained by the Storehouse. The amount would be based on need, such as household size, and circumstances. Households would then decide how to use this account. For example:

• A household that previously did not own a house might decide to acquire one by applying its housing account to the down payment and purchase price. As with most households, the balance would be borrowed through a mortgage on the house.
• A household that previously owned a house would need to compare their ownership interest (“equity”) in the house with the size of its housing account. 
• For some households, the size of the housing account would be about the same as their ownership interest in the house they owned before entering Zion 21.0. These households might choose to trade the money in their housing account for the house that they had consecrated. No transfer of ownership would be needed.
• For some households, the size of the housing account would be greater than the value of the house they owned before entering Zion 21.0. For instance, a large family might have been living in a small house. If they choose to stay in the house they owned, they would use a portion of the money in their housing account to trade for ownership of the house they had consecrated. The balance of the housing account could be used however the household wanted. Alternatively, the consecrated house could be transferred to the Storehouse and the household could use their housing account to buy a larger or more expensive house. 
• For some households, the size of the housing account would be less than the value of the house they owned before entering Zion 21.0. For instance, a two-person household may consecrate a large house but receive a modest housing account consistent with their small household size. Such households may transfer their house to the Storehouse and use their housing account to purchase a smaller house. If such a household wanted to stay in the house, it could do so. It would apply its entire housing account to the purchase of the house and “borrow” the remaining value of the house from the Storehouse, making repayments over time out of its equalized household income.
• A household that previously owned a house might decide to rent instead. It could use the money in the housing account for any other purpose, or keep the money in the account for use in the future. The value of the money in the account would increase with the rate of inflation.

The amount that a household has credited to its housing account would be adjusted for the household’s location and would increase or decrease with changes in the size of the household.

Vehicles.

The allocation of vehicles to households could be done much like the allocation of housing. When a household enters Zion 21.0, the Storehouse would create a vehicle account for the household. The amount of money in the account would increase with the number of persons in the household, perhaps following the square root method. For example, a one-person household might have $15,000 credited to its account, while a four-person household receives $30,000. At the time of consecration, each household obtains an estimate of the value of each vehicle it owns. Each household would also determine how much, if anything, it owes on each vehicle. The difference between the price and what is owed is the household’s equity in the vehicle.

If a household chooses, it can have a vehicle it owns allotted back to it. It compares the amount in its vehicle account to the amount of equity it has in the vehicle. If the equity is equal to or less than the amount in the account, the household may choose to retain the vehicle and continue to be responsible for any loan payments as well as insurance and other operating costs. The difference remains in the household’s vehicle account and increases at the rate of inflation until the household decides to make a vehicle purchase or use the money in some other way. 

If the vehicle the household wants to retain has equity greater than what the household has in its vehicle account, the Storehouse can accept the money in the account and “lend” the household the difference, to be paid off over time through reduced income from the Storehouse. In effect, the household is sacrificing future income and purchases so it can retain a vehicle worth more than what the household would get under an allocation that was equal, adjusted for need.

A household could opt to sell all its vehicles, with the proceeds going to the Storehouse. That household, like a household that didn’t have any vehicle to consecrate, could choose to use money in its vehicle account toward purchasing a vehicle. Alternatively, the household could choose not to buy a car. It could then leave the money in the vehicle account, where its value increases at the rate of inflation, or withdraw the money to use for some other purpose. As with houses, the amount that a household has credited to its vehicle account would be adjusted for the household’s location and would increase or decrease with changes in the size of the household.

Other personal property.

A household entering Zion 21.0 would almost certainly have some personal property such as furniture and other household goods as well as clothing, computers, and books. 

When Bishop Edward Partridge was accepting consecrations and awarding stewardships in the 1830s, the First Presidency advised him that “it is not right to condescend to very great particulars in taking inventories” of the items being consecrated.* This appears to mean that items being consecrated didn’t need to be listed in great detail. However, it is interesting to note that, in the few deeds of consecration that have survived from the period, many items were listed in detail. For instance, James Lee’s consecration included “a number of saddler tools, one candlestick & one washbowl valued seven dollars twenty five cents” and “extra clothing valued three dollars.”** Among the items Titus Billings consecrated were “sundry articles of furniture valued fifty-five dollars twenty-seven cents; also two beds, bedding and extra clothing valued seventy-three dollars twenty-five cents.”***

Zion 21.0 may decide that personal property other than vehicles doesn’t significantly affect equality or that it is too much trouble to deal with. If so, Zion could accept consecration of personal property and then allocate it back to the household that consecrated it. But it is also possible that in Zion 21.0, members and the Storehouse would take the time to make the allocation more equal, adjusted for need. This might by done by allocating to each household some money in a personal property account like the housing and vehicle accounts. Each household would make an inventory of its personal property. The Storehouse would supply a list of prices to be used to value the property once inventoried. Depending on the value of the property, the household would decide to trade some or all of the value in its property account to retain some or all of the property it previously owned. Any unused value in the property account could be used however the household wanted. The household could also “borrow” from the Storehouse if it wanted to retain property with a total value greater than the size of its property account.

____________________________
* Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson County, Missouri, June 25, 1833. See Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, Brent M. Rogers, Grant Underwood, Robert J. Woodford, and William G. Hartley, eds., The Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Volume 3: February 1833–March 1834 (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2014), 153, available here. Spelling has been standardized.
** Leonard J. Arrington, Feramorz Y. Fox and Dean L. May, Building the City of God: Community and Cooperation among the Mormons, 2nd ed. (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992), 23–24.
***B.H. Roberts, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1902–12, 1932), 1:367.

Property temporarily retained by a member of Zion 21.0.

Normally, property or assets would be turned over to Zion 21.0, through the Storehouse, at the time the household entered Zion. However, there would likely be some assets for which a transfer either is impossible or would result in a large decrease in the value of the asset. In such situations, Zion 21.0 would accept a legally binding commitment to the Storehouse describing the future handling of these assets. This might be similar to a pledge made to a charity to contribute money at a future time.

Avoiding inefficient transfer of property.

Many households entering Zion 21.0 would have various amounts of financial assets that cannot readily be transferred to the Storehouse or sold. A big component would be funds in retirement accounts. A household that enters Zion with money in a retirement account would not be expected to turn it over to the Storehouse. For one thing, a person owning such an account generally is not legally allowed to transfer it to someone else. If the person holding the account is under age 59 1/2, he or she would pay a steep penalty for withdrawing the money to give to the Storehouse. After that age, a gradual withdrawal may result in lower taxes than a one-time withdrawal. A consecrating household could retain ownership of the retirement account and make gradual withdrawals. These withdrawals would be reported to the Storehouse and treated as income along with other nonwage gains.

As another example, transfer or sale may be difficult when a piece of land or a business is owned jointly by the consecrating household and by other owners who are not part of Zion. The other owners might not consent to either selling the land or substituting the Storehouse as an owner in place of the household. In such a case, the consecrating household would continue to hold its share of the land or business until sale or transfer is possible. When it is sold, the portion of the sale proceeds going to the Zion household would be reported to the Storehouse and treated as a nonwage gain that is part of its income. In the meantime, any gains the household receives from the land or business would also be treated as a nonwage gain.

Financial investments that members of Zion 21.0 wouldn’t hold.

In addition to bank accounts, some households entering Zion would also be consecrating other financial investments that earn money and can readily be exchanged for money. These would include mutual funds, stocks and bonds. When financial assets like these are consecrated in Zion 21.0, none of them would be allocated back to households. Instead, the assets would all be retained by the Storehouse and managed by investment professionals. Some of the investments might be sold for uses like funding the initial bank accounts for Zion households. A substantial portion, perhaps all, would be held as investments that generate income for Zion. That investment income would be part of the pool of money, along with household earnings and non-wage gains, from which the Storehouse determines equalized incomes for Zion households.

Owner-operated business.

An owner-operated business is an organization and a set of ongoing economic activities that have value because the owner manages them to yield a profit. It may be a one-person freelance writing business, a small company doing landscaping, an auto repair shop, a store or a factory. By and large, business owner-operators who enter Zion 21.0 would continue to own and operate the businesses as long as they are economically viable. Members would continue to own the necessary property as long as they are using it for their business.

Looking ahead with an owner-operated business.

It is not uncommon for owner-operators to go out of business. An owner-operator would be free to sell the assets and use the proceeds to acquire or start a different business. However, if he or she decides to become an employee and does not need the assets to work, the assets would be turned over to the Storehouse just as everyone else with financial assets would do at the time of consecration. Owner-operators would legally commit themselves at the time of consecration to give the assets to the Storehouse in the future.