All five Citrus County Commissioners today agreed that now is not the time to charge fees for using the county's parks and recreation areas.

But all five also agreed that fees are in the county's future.

Commissioners began the conversation as part of today's agenda item from County Administrator Brad Thorpe. Thorpe told commissioners that the county commissioned Wade-Trim to undertake a parks and recreation fee study in 2007, a study which, he said, the commission should see. "This has been sitting on the shelf for about two and one-half to three years," Thorpe said.

Thorpe said the county staff didn't feel it was appropriate to bring up the study, based on the down economy at the time, but that now he felt the time was right for commissioners to view the Wade-Trim report. Thorpe had invited two representatives from Wade-Trim to give commissioners a briefing today about their study's results.

Thorpe told commissioners he wasn't recommending the county commission do anything, and to view the report as "informational." He said he wanted to show the commission what other counties are doing, and to consider the report as a "tool" at budget-making time at some point in the future.

County Commissioner Gary Bartell said that the report was "shock and awe" for him when he read it, and he noted that the fee structure outlined in the report would not work for Citrus County.

This is not the first time the commission and Thorpe have talked about user fees. The last time was on June 9, 2009, at the county commission's regular meeting. The Wade-Trim report, although not given a name at the time by Thorpe, was brought up twice during discussion about sports teams who were contracting with the county for the use of county ball fields. [ Click here to read that story ]

During the presentation, commissioners were told that Citrus County has 57 parks. Operations and management for the funding of the facilities has historically taken from $2 million to $3 million of the county's budget," according to Wade-Trim representative Amanda Warner. At the time of the study, annual revenues generated from the fees the county currently charges covered only 2 percent ($60,000) of the total operations and maintenance budget annually.

"We're seeing at least 20 communities throughout the region looking at reducing funding," said Warner, "to figure out how to recover those costs." The company has given the county seven recommendations with details about how to implement a user fee schedule, or modify the existing schedule, Warner said.

The report looked at two county facilities - Ft. Island Gulf Beach in Crystal River and Bicentennial Park in Inverness - as "pilot projects", because of the amount of people who use the facilities and the amount of revenue generated. Based on those two facilities, the report suggested ways the county could recoup some of the costs.

Common sense, said Commissioner Winn Webb, indicates that costs of maintenance and operations increase each year, and that the public should understand that. He added that 55 percent of the ad valorem tax goes to the school board, not the county commission. The school board subsidizes part of the Whispering Pines Park, which is not heated, he said. At the same time, he said, the county doesn't get a subsidy for the Bicentennial Park pool use.

Commissioner John Thrumston suggested, meanwhile, that the county might want to see if it has too many parks, and prioritize all of them to see if we need them.

The suggested fees for Ft. Island Gulf Beach would be $2 per car per day, from $20 to $50 for shelter rentals and $5 to $7 for a boat launch fee. Based on these fees, the Wade-Trim report says, the county could receive $148,000 annually, if those fees were charged by the county. The operations and maintenance of Ft. Island Gulf Beach totals about $91,000, and should the county implement the fee structure suggested in the report, there would be no cost to the county for operations and maintenance of the facility.

At Bicentennial Park, the county could charge $4 per hour per ball field, $10 per hour for lights,  players would pay $10 each, the fee for tournaments would be $10 per day and for concessions, the cost would be $25 per day. Other fees could be charged as well.

At Bicentenniel Park, fees could be charged for open swim ($5 per adult/$3 per child). The county could also charge a suggested fee of $50 per four hours for the open shelters. For the tennis court area, fees could also be charged for the courts, tennis lessons, shelters and lights. The only thing free would be the racquetball courts.

The Bicentennial Park fees could generate about $209,397 annually, which would give the county a 64 percent recovery. That would mean that the rest of the money to operate the facility would have to come from the general fund, the report says. Wade-Trim's report also recommends hiring someone at the rate of $30,000 to $35,000 yearly to collect the fees and handle reservations - both at the Bicentennial Park and Ft. Island Gulf Beach.

During discussion after the presentation, commissioners weighed in on user fees.

"Users fees - phased in - are the next logical step in the provision of active recreational park usage," Commissioner Dennis Damato. Noting that approximately 55 percent of the county's budget is for education, Damato suggested the county could work with the schools to see how those facilities could be used. He also suggested sports teams help share some of the costs of using county facilities.

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