Park Fee Proposal To Get Hearing

New user fees for county parks and facilities and hikes to existing charges are worth considering during a public hearing process, commissioners decided Wednesday.

But commissioners also indicated they were far from convinced that all of the recommendations from parks Director Pat Fagan asking residents to dig deeper are the way to go.

The hearing is slated for the commission's next regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at the Government Center, 20 N. Main St., Brooksville. An agenda time had not been set by Wednesday afternoon.

Fagan told the board his department is trying its best to do more with less, including a $335,000 cut for the 2009 fiscal year. But he said he is now faced with the decision of charging user fees or cutting another four staffers.

That would cause the quality at the county's parks and athletic fields to suffer, Fagan said.

"We don't like charging fees, but the cuts that are taking place are really impacting us," Fagan said.

Among Fagan's recommendations is a $20 annual fee charged for members of the sports leagues that use county fields.

"Pat, I've got some problems there," Commissioner Dave Russell said. By supporting the property tax reform Amendment 1, "people were giving us a message to make do and not necessarily supplant," Russell said.

But Fagan countered that it's "only fair" for some 6,000 county residents who use county athletic fields "95 percent of the time" to pay a little more. The other option is for the sports leagues to volunteer by helping to maintain the fields.

About half of the 15 or so athletic teams indicated in a recent survey they would support a fee or be willing to volunteer.

"All we're asking is them to provide the help," Fagan said. "We feel they can do more for less as well."

Commissioner Rose Rocco agreed. She said it's probably more realistic for team members, or their parents, to pay the $20 which, she said, is less than the cost of a night out at the movies.

"Many parents I talk to don't have time to volunteer," Rocco said.

Russell and other commissioners seemed more open to a recommendation to charge $5 for boat trailer parking at the county's four boat ramps. An annual pass for $100 would be offered.

Also up for discussion next Tuesday: Hikes to the existing parking rates at Alfred McKethan Park in Pine Island and Rogers Park in Weeki Wachee; higher rental fees for facilities ranging from picnic pavilions to large buildings; and hikes to park rental fees.

Roger Davidson, chairman of the annual Swamp Fest held at Linda Pedersen Park, said the event could be threatened if the board agrees to raise rental rates. Swamp Fest, which dedicates all profits to local community organizations, would have to pay $2,500 instead of $1,500, he said.

"At some point, it's going to get too expensive for us to even consider having the event," Davidson said.

The county should be careful not to wipe away what little savings taxpayers got through property tax reform by imposing fees, longtime county resident and avid boater Jim Knotts told commissioners.

"It seems like taxpayers are going to get nailed one way or the other, from this pocket or that pocket," Knotts said.