Rock Hill City Council voted unanimously to increase activity fees for recreational programs, almost tripling the fees for some users.
This comes after York County Council voted June 2 to cut the recreation tax that had been in place for almost 20 years.
The tax applied to residents who lived outside of city limits but still in York County. It was a way to fund city recreation programs for youth sports, according to York County spokesman Greg Suskin.
“The county has changed and grown dramatically since that time,” he said. “The tax was simply not viable to fund recreation.”
Rock Hill Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Director Mark Sexton said the repeal left the city short of about $450,000.
To make up for the loss, Rock Hill City Council increased the fees for residents outside of the city limits, a return to the system used 20 years ago.
“Our hands are tied but we were forced back into the old system,” said councilman Kevin Sutton at Monday’s meeting.
City Manager David B. Vehaun said the city of Rock Hill needed to raise fees in order to keep their programs afloat.
“We had hoped that the county might see things differently as we move into the new budget year, but they apparently are not going to change their minds on that,” he said.
York County Council spokesman Greg Suskin said the county gave municipalities the ability to opt into receiving stipends to supplement the lost tax.
“This year was a new opportunity to try to rectify something that we felt was outdated and mostly not accountable,” he said.
Suskin said the stipend would give cities $100 for every unincorporated person who registered for an activity, as long as rates remained the same for residents in and outside the city.
According to Suskin, Assistant County Manager Tom Couch was in touch with Rock Hill officials to discuss the new proposal.
Sexton said the conversations stopped after the city refused to give the county the names and addresses of unincorporated recreational activity users.
“We didn’t feel like legally that we can share people’s personal data,” he said.
Suskin said only Rock Hill and Tega Cay chose to increase fees instead of taking the stipends.
Sexton said there was never any official documentation or paperwork given to them with a concrete agreement.
“We asked for, if there is a stipend, what amount, who does it apply to… and we never received anything in writing from the county to explain that to us,” he said.
Rock Hill’s registration for recreational programs opens July 15. A breakdown of the new activity fees by resident location, age group, and sport can be found here.
