Editor's
note: Contributing Columnist, Steve Nicklas, expresses his views and
insights on various topics of local interest in Steve's Marketplace
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There is one thing that local officials are forgetting -- or at least omitting -- from their discussions about charging fees for the use of city and county recreational facilities.
These facilities were originally built with public tax dollars. And erected for the public’s use.
The discussion/debate revolves around how to pay for the use, maintenance, and upkeep of these facilities. This includes public baseball fields, soccer fields, football fields, basketball courts, recreational buildings, etc.
Some fees are already paid for their use. The fees being considered now would be an additional cost -- and another revenue source to the city or county. Municipal budgets are tight and getting tighter during the economic downturn, and few services are sacred right now.
City and county officials have lamented about the costs they are incurring at these recreational and athletic complexes. The costs stem from powering the lights at a ballpark, mowing the grass, and repairing damaged bleachers. The same officials say they are “losing” money at these facilities at an alarming rate.
However, since when did the city and county have to “make” money on services they provide? Government is not a for-profit entity. Government is designed to provide public services to residents -- trash pickup, road maintenance, police and fire protection, etc.
Do officials feel they need to “turn a profit” on the recreational department now? By charging additional fees, the recreation budget will look better, but this is a drop in the water bucket compared to the financial stature of other departments.
These parks and ball fields and buildings came from public tax dollars -- and are there for the use and enjoyment of residents. Many of the same officials who are batting around this petty idea once used these same fields as youngsters. And with little or no financial charge.
One commissioner surmised from a conversation with a youth league representative that this particular organization may be more inclined to turn off the lights once finished using the field. As if they’d be more responsible because they would share in the costs.
This is not about youth leagues being responsible or irresponsible with their use of the facilities. These facilities have been intact for many years -- and have provided much enjoyment for residents of all ages.
And, worse yet, any fee assessed to a youth league will be simply passed along to its members, who are the parents -- and the original taxpayers who paid for the facilities. These fees are nothing but user taxes assessed on facilities built from taxes.
As a city and county, Fernandina Beach and Nassau County have exceptional athletic, recreational, and park facilities. Putting additional charges on people and children using them could eventually deter use.
And they would end up as dilapidated, unused facilities that we’ve all seen wasting away in corners of towns, obscured by weeds and littered with trash. This is something we truly don’t need to forget.
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(Steve Nicklas is a financial advisor who lives on Amelia Island. He can be reached at 904-753-0236 or send eMail to: thenicklasteam2@msn.com.)