Brandon Twp.- Jim Burke’s two sons played sports in the recreation program here last year, but this year, the Groveland Township residents are playing in Independence Township for financial reasons.
‘I wasn’t willing to pay the $125 non-resident fee and then the exorbitant $90 fee per child that would have put us over $300,? says Burke, who will instead pay $117 combined for his 7- and 4-year-olds to play baseball in Independence Township.
‘I would have liked to keep them in Brandon so they could play with their friends, but with the state of the economy, it doesn’t make sense at this juncture.?
Burke’s oldest son will play soccer here this spring, since he signed up for it last fall.
Burke’s decision to play in Independence Township this summer comes after the Brandon Township board unanimously voted in February to implement a non-resident fee of $60 per event and participant, or $125 per family annual fee, which took effect this spring. Formerly, Groveland Township contributed $15,000 to Brandon Recreation; however, Brandon officials said a total of 1,980 individuals participated in the recreation department activities last year, of which 388 individuals were from Groveland. Brandon officials requested an additional $27,000 from Groveland to equal the $42,144 needed to sufficiently fund the recreation program, but the Groveland Township board unanimously voted to have their residents who used the recreation programs pay a non-resident fee. Additionally, they withdrew their $15,000 annual contribution.
The increased fees have incited anger in both Brandon and Groveland residents and inspired some to withdraw their children from Brandon Recreation programs.
Brandon Parks and Recreation Director Fred Waybrant said spring sign-ups for soccer are about the same as last year, but baseball/softball registrations are down 12.5 percent, from 400 last year to 350 this year.
‘The obvious reason is the non-resident fee,? he said. ‘Some just don’t agree with it. But it’s also affected by the school district implementing pay-to-play.?
The program fee also increased this year by $23. Waybrant notes that baseball is expensive to operate and he calculated fees based on the number of weeks played, and bills including electric, trash pick-up, lime, diamond dust, paint, dugout repairs, telephone, umpires, attendants, lightbulbs that cost $75 apiece to replace, and repairs to an electrical control shed that is a safety hazard.
Waybrant didn’t factor in team sponsors when calculating costs, because he didn’t feel with the current economy he could count on having them.
Burke, who will still coach soccer in Brandon this spring, said he offered to coach baseball to see if recreation officials would waive the fee, but they wouldn’t. Now, he says he is being followed out of the Brandon recreation program by Brandon residents who have asked where his children are going, so their children can play with his kids.
In Independence Township, where the Burkes are heading to play baseball, they will pay from $37-$73 per child depending on what league they are in. Independence Township Parks and Recreation Director Mike Turk said their baseball, softball, and soccer leagues have about the same number of registrations as last year? 1,200. That number stays fairly constant, as they can only take so many kids and have waiting lists. He adds that about 5 percent of registrations are non-residents and they pay an additional $10 fee.
‘We charge a little more because they’re not paying Independence Township taxes,? said Turk, whose department has a budget of $2.2 million. ‘I think a $60 non-resident fee is excessive and you’ll end up chasing people away. It should be no more than 50 percent higher than what the resident cost of the program is. $60, that’s a lot.?
In Oxford Township, Parks and Recreation Director Ron Davis said the recreation staff has received a lot of inquiries from people with Ortonville mailing addresses either at the counter or over the phone.
‘It’s noticeably more than the usual number of inquiries,? he said. ‘It was too late for soccer at the time they started calling.?
Oxford Township Recreation had 263 registrations for soccer, about the same as last year, 36 of which were non-residents and 11 of those were from Ortonville. For softball, he had 173 registrations, down slightly from last year, 22 of whom were non-residents, and 14 from Ortonville. Oxford Recreation doesn’t offer baseball, instead, the sport is offered through the Oxford Regional Baseball Association, which charges an $85 fee to play, regardless of whether participants are residents. ORBA President Greg Williams said only about 3 percent of players are non-residents. The program has seen an increase of 50-60 kids this year, but mostly from Oxford.
Oxford Township Recreation charges $55 for residents to play soccer and the same for softball. Like Independence Township, they charge a $10 non-resident fee. Oxford has a .86 parks and rec millage and brings in about $700,000 annually. Their total budget is $1.4 million and funds four parks and the maintenance for each.
‘I don’t care where you live, if you want to recreate, we want to have you,? Davis said.
In Springfield Township, the recreation department doesn’t offer soccer yet, but registrations are up for baseball, t-ball and softball programs. They have tallied 410 so far and are still taking registrations for older kids. Last year, they had just under 400 registrations.
Jennifer Tucker, Springfield Township Recreation Director, said 27 percent of registered participants are non-residents who are charged a $10 non-resident fee in addition to the $30-$75 program fee. Springfield Township’s parks and recreation department operates on a $601,000 budget with five parks.
‘We’re covering our costs while giving a quality product,? Tucker said. ‘We want to stay comparable to our neighbors. We’re doing what’s right for our community and I think that goes beyond our borders.?
Tucker notes that Springfield Township is split by two school districts (Clarkston and Holly), as well as a sprinkling of Brandon, but mostly draws non-residents from Rose Township. She said they have no plans to increase fees for non-residents although Rose Township doesn’t make any monetary contribution to the recreation program.
‘Who would we be hurting?? she asked, then, answering her own question: ‘We’d hurt the kids if we were to raise the non-resident fee an exponential amount. The bottom line (in Brandon Township) is they are splitting the school district, because there are Groveland kids that go to school with Brandon kids. The ones suffering are the kids struggling with obesity, or self-esteem, or who need a positive influence, and the ones we don’t want stealing our hubcaps.?
Burke agrees.
‘It’s unfortunate this situation has divided the community,? he said. ‘This hurts the kids and is dividing the residents between Brandon and Groveland. We’re more than willing to pay a reasonable out-of-township fee.?
‘We didn’t make the decision to raise the non-resident fees, Groveland Township did,? said Brandon Township Supervisor Ron Lapp, who notes the Brandon recreation department has a budget of $211,000 from the general fund and $252,000 revenue from the recreation programs used to fund these programs. ‘We tried to be as fair as we could. The residents of Groveland were getting a service and not paying. Twenty percent of our recreation participants were from Groveland and 7 percent were from other communities. Our residents make up 73 percent of the participants and were paying 90 percent of the cost.?
‘I feel bad about the whole thing, but I agree we have to take care of our own people,? Waybrant said. ‘They (Brandon Township residents) are paying for this department.?