Not a very experienced CC2 modder so if someone who better knows what they're doing chimes in go with that -- but some have said some values simply can't be changed (as they are hardcoded) and I think starting money is part of that.

You can edit your save file and give yourself as much money as you want that way - I suggest looking up save editing for CC2. But since it's save-specific I don't think you could make a mod for that.

There is cheat engines that work fine for endless money. I have 2 saves one I play with my friends and another I cheated to victory with WeMod. (Its good to test things in like the NDL mini boats we got in the last update and now with mods coming I can test those with unlimited everything)

yeah gameshark has a good cheat mod for this, infinite ammo and cash along with being able to cheat in items

Can also just bump up the amount of starting island you get. Currently playing a 4 way free for all with each team starting with 16 islands. I have more money than I know what to spend on...