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Board Splits 3-2 On Parks,
Recreation Funding Decision
Last Updated: November 28, 2011
What do you do to support kids in the Town of Cottage Grove, asked Chairman Kris Hampton, addressing Board members during a spirited November 21 Board meeting discussion over whether to grant the Village’s parks and recreation program $5,000 of its 2012 Town budget allocations.
Hampton and supervisors Steve Anders and Mike DuPlayee voted in favor of reversing an earlier Board decision to pull $5,000 of the total $10,000 dollars that the Town had normally set aside for the parks and recreation program the past few years. The Board eventually voted in a unanimous 5 to 0 vote later at the same meeting to approve the 2012 Town budget, which included the $10,000 for the Parks and Recreation budget. The money was initially removed during the budget discussions because of a decision by the Village Board to request a $5,000 increase from the Town for the Parks department.
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| Steve Anders |
Cottage Grove Parks and Recreation and Forestry Committee Director Jacob Tisue was at the meeting to discuss the matter. What he told them was that the Village Board had decided, as a measure to make up the lost funds, to increase the non-resident fee from $20 to $50 per person.
Answering a question from DuPlayee over why they decided to raise the fees, Tisue said it was the Village’s decision.
“If I can be honest, that was not a recommendation of the parks and rec committee and that was not a recommendation of our department. We discussed what the actual costs are and what the benefits are for years now. And we decided from a committee standpoint not to ask for more. That has always been our recommendation to the Village Board, partially because the funds are tight. I can’t speak for the Village Board. During their budget workshop I think they were trying to justify finding little bits of funding from other places and someone brought it up and they thought they would ask. It came from the Village Board.”
Tisue’s initial request was for the Town to reinstate the $5,000 and bring funding back to where it was. “Our situation is unique compared to other town-village relationships in that such a high percentage of our participants are Town residents.” In a typical town-village, he said recreation relationship percentage rates are anywhere from 8 to 13 percent. The town of Cottage Grove is at 23 percent, which he said is why it makes more sense to look at as a joint program.
But arguments from Board supervisors Mike Fonger and Mike Kindschi were to keep the current funding at $5,000 or even cut the entire $10,000 and accept that Town residents would pay the non-resident fee.
Anders, a parks Committee member, said they were looking at option 2 of four options available to make up the $5,000 gap. The second option was to raise the non-resident fees by $10 to $15, “That’s an increase but it wasn’t something really huge, said Anders. “Some of the activates were over $100. So a $10 or $15 increase wasn’t that much of an increase if we’re going to be looking at that stuff.”
Unfortunately, he said, one of the parks and recreation members arrived at a meeting late, and came in “with both barrels cocked.” Anders said the member stated that the Town made up 23 percent of the recreations program’s total participation so it should fund 23 percent of the total budget. Anders said the latecomer was able to shift a majority of committee members into agreeing that this was the way to go. What they came up with was a $30 fee increase which Anders said was “outrageous.”
“I didn’t agree with (that) because the rec department is going to exist whether the town participates or not. And to go ahead and assess the Town 23 percent of their fixed costs for something that was going to be operating to begin with I thought was very unfair.”
Fonger said giving the $5,000 back was condoning the Village’s actions, adding that he was still totally against giving anything. “My rationale has always been the same thing. If someone in the township wants to be in a program or have their children in a program they pay the non-resident fees. I think it’s totally unfair.”
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Mike Fonger |
He explained that the 383 Town recreation program sign ups said to make up up the 23 percent Town participation were sign ups and not necessarily single individuals. “So it could be a family with 10 kids signing up for three different sports. My point with that is I don’t think that’s fair to the rest of the people in the Township. We do roads, we do emergency medical, we do police, we do all these things and I think recreation is a totally different item. I don’t think it’s for us to pay.”
The last time the Town did away with recreation funding in 2006, Hampton said there were a lot of people voicing their displeasure. Coming at the argument from a health benefit standpoint, he said “It allows the children in the Township to learn a sport. It tries to help them stay from being obese by staying active. And we support the elder citizens in the Town through Colonial Club; we should try to do something for the children too.”
Fonger responded saying that if it’s the Town’s job to make sure kids in the Town are not obese they are in the wrong game. “We should have a health department too then. Why don’t we get that going, too?
Kindschi sided with Fonger in voting against redistributing the $5,000 to the Parks fund. Part of his concern was what programs were being funded by the department and where was the line being drawn for what would and would not be funded. “How far do you go to support kids,” said Kindschi. “Are we going to supplement day care?”
When it came down to the closing vote on the budget when the $10,000 was put back in place, it was Fonger who said that this wasn’t over with the Viillage and that this issue would be revisited in the future. “I say if we look at it and if they raise the fees even a dollar we pull everything.”