Charleston Carriage Company offers guided horse-drawn carriage rides through historic Charleston, South Carolina. The carriage business is highly regulated by the city. The fare for all passengers is $18.00. Charleston Carriage has the following monthly operating costs:

Fee paid to the city of Charleston 16% of ticket revenue

Cost of souvenir set of postcards given to each passenger $0.50 per set

Monthly cost of leasing and boarding the horses $50,000

Carriage drivers (tour guides) are paid on a per-passenger basis $3.10 per passenger

Monthly payroll costs of non tour guide employees $8,500

Marketing, web-site, telephone, and other monthly fixed costs $7,000

In addition to these costs, Charleston Carriage pays a brokerage fee of $0.90 per ticket sold by brokers. On average, 60% of tickets are issued through these brokers; 40% are sold directly by Charleston Carriage.

Charleston Carriage has several questions about its monthly revenues, costs, and profits in 2018. REQUIRED [ROUND YOUR ANSWER TO PART A, QUESTION 1 TO THE NEAREST CENT; ROUND ALL OTHER ANSWERS TO THE NEAREST UNIT OR NEAREST DOLLAR.]

Part A

1. What is the estimated monthly contribution margin per passenger for Charleston Carriage in 2018?

2. What are the estimated total monthly fixed costs for Charleston Carriage in 2018?

Part B

3. What is Charleston Carriage's estimated monthly operating income in 2018 if the number of monthly passengers is 8,600?

4. How many monthly passengers would be required for Charleston Carriage to break even in 2018?

5. How many monthly passengers would be required for Charleston Carriage to earn $116,000 per month in 2018?

6. Assuming a tax rate of 31%, what must revenue be in order for Charleston Carriage to earn $116,000 per month in 2018?

Part C

7. Charleston Carriage has an opportunity to negotiate with the company that leases the horses and boards them. If Charleston Carriage expects to sell 6,965 tickets per month in 2018, what's the most it could pay to lease and board the horses if it wants to break even each month (ignoring taxes)?