Athletic Clubs Volunteers, Yorktown School Officials Clash Over User Fees

Yorktown volunteers for local sports clubs are continuing to plead with Yorktown Central School District officials not to increase user fees they say would hurt families. But officials said it's either increased fees or staff and program cuts across the district. 

"The [fee] proposal covers a small portion of the costs [incurred by clubs]," Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Tom Cole said Monday night during a Board of Education meeting. "We're not asking for the world. What we're looking for is to try to avoid further cuts."

Starting July 1, school officials are looking to recoup some of the district's costs – including custodial overtime, heating and lighting – associated with outside groups and organizations using district facilities.

The Yorktown Youth Soccer Club, Yorktown Athletic Club, Mohansic Girls Basketball Club, Yorktown Parks and Recreation, Oxygen Volleyball Club, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and SPARC Programs would have to pay additional fees under the proposal.

Cole said the annual costs to sustain that use is between $90,000 and $105,000. School officials initially recommended recouping a total of $64,000 from the sports clubs, but after negotiations they agreed to $48,000 per year.  

Volunteers and leaders of those clubs have expressed concerns that the higher usage fees would put a burden on parents – some of whom already have more than one child playing multiple sports. 

Rich Campanero, of the Yorktown Athletic Club, said he feared families would be restricted to how many sports their children can play if parents had to shell out more money in a tough economy. 

Yorktown Youth Soccer Club President Rick Romanski said he feared club memberships could decrease and the fees for the remaining members, who would have to foot the bill, would increase even more. 

Al French, vice president of the Yorktown Youth Soccer Club, said the town of Yorktown and has contributed money to the school district for facility repairs and improvements and clubs have volunteered to do the same.

"Virtually everyone we speak with feel they already are paying for use of the school facilities in their town and school taxes," French told school board members on Monday. "This includes practically everyone in town government and the recreation department and commissioners."

Yorktown councilmen Vishnu Patel and Nick Bianco attended the school board meeting to express their support of the sports clubs' position.

"I believe those fees are going to hurt everyone in town," Bianco said. 

During the school board meeting on Monday, Cole presented the proposed usage fees and proposed hourly rates.

The usage fees are as follows:

• Yorktown Youth Soccer Club – $13,135
• Yorktown Athletic Club – $29,380
• Mohansic Girls Basketball – $6,120
• Oxygen Volleyball – $300
• For a total of $48,935

Hourly rates:

• Gymnasium – $10 weekday, $20 weekend
• Cafeteria – $10 weekday, $20 weekend
• Classroom – $5 weekday, $10 weekend
• Soccer/lacrosse field – $5 weekday, $5 weekend
• Brookside baseball fields – $5 weekday, $5 weekend
• High school baseball field – $10 weekday, $10 weekend
• High school softball field – $10 weekday, $10 weekend
• Turf field – $25 weekday, $25 weekend
• Turf field with lights – $45 weekday, $45 weekend

Cole said the requested hours of use of district facilities for last year by the Yorktown Youth Soccer Club, Yorktown Athletic Club, Mohansic Girls Basketball and the Oxygen Volleyball Club totalled 4,825 hours, but the clubs did not use all those requested hours. 

School officials have proposed that clubs are charged for the hours they request and reserve the various facilities, not just for the hours they actually use. 

"If you request hours you will pay a fee," Cole said, adding that if hours are requested that means the facilities are in use – the lights are on or the heat is turned on. 

Cole asked Yorktown school board members to give him direction on what they wanted to approve – no user fees, a $48,000 or a $63,000 fee structure.

"The decision that I'm telling you we have right now is either we develop a revenue stream or cut more staffing," Cole said citing reduced state aid of about $250,000. "We've cut $780,000 worth of costs – it's staffing, materials and programs."

School board members agreed to add to the revenue stream approximately $48,000 generated from the annual fee structure to sports clubs. 

The implications of charging local groups for use of school fields and buildings will be discussed March 18.

For the school district's previous statement on usage fees, click here.

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our newsletter