SCP-4881 — SCP-4881 | Cost Breakdown

Read on SCP Wiki ↗

SCP-4881 Safe ~ medium confidence

SCP-4881

Expected annual

$2.5M

One-time setup

$1.2M

Annual recurring

$2.4M

Personnel

Estimated one-time capital costs total approximately $1,238,500 primarily for land/site securing, lab buildout, and an initial contingency seed. Annual operations are estimated at $2,427,500 driven mainly by security/staff wages, an ongoing research program, legal/PR and contingency reserves.

🏗️ One-Time Capital Costs Total: $1.2M

Contingency Seed $500K

[#27] Initial seed for emergency contingency reserve to address rapid escalation (public panic, mass litigation, sabotage) (~$500k).

Initial Research And Lab Setup $400K

[#13] One-time lab buildout for research program (BSL-2 capable space, basic instrumentation) estimated at $400k.

Facilities $235K

[#1, #2, #16] Land acquisition/long-term lease ($200,000), perimeter fencing and foundations ($25,000), and one-time permitting/impact-study fees ($10,000) aggregated as site/facility capital.

Database Development $40K

[#10] Development of secure registry and consent database (~$40k one-time development).

Logistics Vehicle $25K

[#6] Purchase of a light utility/rapid-response vehicle (~$25k).

Equipment $17K

[#3] CCTV and tamper/motion/engraving detection hardware and installation (~$15k hardware + $2k installation = $17k).

Security Hardening $10K

[#19] One-time security hardening and audits for sensitive records (~$10k).

Backup Power $8K

[#18] UPS/backup power installation for monitoring systems (~$7.5k).

Communications Hardware $3K

[#25] Initial secure-phone / radio / network hardware for site (~$3k).

Engraving Kit Setup $1K

[#7] Initial controlled-access sterile engraving kit and staff training/setup ($1k).

🔄 Annual Recurring Costs Total: $2.4M/yr

Research And Monitoring $700K/yr

[#13] Ongoing multi-year pilot research program (PIs, technicians, trial operations) estimated at ~$700k/yr for a minimal but active program.

Staff Wages $690K/yr

[#4, #5, #9, #10, #24] Wages/benefits for monitoring operator (1 FTE ~$65k), on-site security (6 guards ~$300k), mental-health counselors (2 part-time / combined ~$100k), screening/admin (1 FTE ~$65k), and archivist/case managers (2 FTEs ~$160k).

Contingency Reserve Replenishment $250K/yr

[#27] Annual replenishment for emergency contingency reserve to maintain rapid-response liquidity (~$250k/yr target replenishment).

Litigation Reserve $200K/yr

[#11] Annual reserve for per-case litigation costs and settlements (variable; budgeting conservative mid-range).

Cover Story And Legal $150K/yr

[#11, #12] Annual legal retainer and baseline PR/cover-story budget (~$100k retainer + $50k PR/media buys / coordination).

Relocation And Protection $150K/yr

[#23] Reserve for relocation/protective housing for individuals at risk (~$100k–$500k/yr available as needed).

Forensic And Death Response $75K/yr

[#14] Annualized budget for autopsies, investigations, mortuary storage, and specialty pathology (~$5k–$20k per death + contingency; annual reserve ~$75k).

Criminal Activity Contingency $50K/yr

[#22] Annual contingency for protective orders, relocation assistance and prosecution coordination (~$20k–$200k/yr).

Medical Emergency Contracts $40K/yr

[#8] On-call EMT/ambulance contracts and additional event medical staffing (~$20k–$75k/yr; budgeted mid-range).

Insurance $40K/yr

[#21] Liability, property and professional insurance (~$10k–$75k/yr).

Annual Event Staffing $30K/yr

[#17] Additional crowd-control, temporary barriers, extra EMTs and sanitation for the yearly catkin-formation event (~$20k–$50k typical; budgeted $30k).

Training And Sops $15K/yr

[#20] Ongoing staff training, SOP development, ethics training and drills (~$5k–$25k/yr).

Data Security $12K/yr

[#19] Secure hosting, encryption, audits and specialized IT support for sensitive records (~$5k–$25k/yr; budgeted $12k).

Supplies And Consumables $6K/yr

[#7, #26] Consumables for supervised engraving events and site upkeep (sterile kits, PPE, sanitation, signage replacement) (~$1.5k + $5k = $6.5k/yr).

Facilities Maintenance $5K/yr

[#15] Routine arborist inspections, pruning, disease/pest treatment and minor site upkeep (~$5k/yr).

Logistics And Transport $5K/yr

[#6] Fuel, routine maintenance, and small transport costs for site vehicle (~$3k–$8k; budgeted here at $5k/yr).

Database Hosting $3K/yr

[#10] Secure hosting, maintenance, and audits for the consent/registry database (~$1k–$5k/yr).

Compliance And Permitting $3K/yr

[#16] Renewals, reporting, and minor compliance costs (~$1k–$5k/yr).

Communications Service $2K/yr

[#25] Secure phone/internet/radio service costs for the site (~$500–$3k/yr).

Battery Replacement $1K/yr

[#18] Periodic battery replacements and minor UPS maintenance (~$500–$2k/yr).

⚡ Cost Scenarios

📊 Baseline (baseline) $2.4M/yr

87.0% probability / year

Normal, uneventful year with routine operations, scheduled events and no major incidents.

routine_operations annual_catkin_event no_major_incidents

🚨 Minor Incident $2.5M/yr

8.0% probability / year +$60K vs baseline

Localized unauthorized engraving attempt or small public incident requiring emergency response, repair, and modest legal/PR work.

unauthorized_engraving minor_injury small_media_attention

🚨 Major Breach $3.9M/yr

5.0% probability / year +$1.5M vs baseline

Significant public exposure, suspicious death investigation or mass litigation requiring large legal settlements, expanded PR, emergency research scaling and operation of contingency reserves.

public_exposure mass_litigation suspicious_death

👥 Personnel 16 total

Role	Count	Notes
Security Officer / MTF Agent	6	[#5] On-site security patrols and access control (6 FTEs for 24/7 coverage).
Monitoring Operator	1	[#4] Persistent monitoring / camera operations (1 FTE or equivalent).
Administrative Staff	1	[#10] Volunteer screening, consent administration and database coordination (1 FTE).
Archivist / Case Manager	2	[#24] Ongoing case management for paired individuals (1–2 FTEs; budgeted as 2).
Research Scientist	4	[#13] Research program staff (PIs/technicians/lab manager funded under research_and_monitoring).
Mental Health Counselor	2	[#9] Counseling and long-term mental-health services (2 part-time counselors).

📋 Confidence Notes

Analyst notes provide detailed line-item ranges enabling order-of-magnitude estimates, but many items have wide ranges and outcome-dependent contingency funding (public attention, litigation, and research pace) that introduce substantial uncertainty.

← SCP-4880 ↑ All SCPs SCP-4882 →