Brandon Twp.- About 60 residents attended a public hearing on non-resident recreation fees July 31, nearly half spoke, with a majority saying the fees need to be lowered.
‘Brandon has made a mistake,? said Shawn Lovelace, a Brandon Hawks travel soccer coach, addressing the board and audience. ‘They’ve lost thousands and thousands of dollars. They’ve lost coaches and players… Other communities? participation is up… Competition will make or break you and it will break Brandon because we’re not competing.?
During the hearing, which lasted about 90 minutes, the loss of participants in Brandon’s recreation program was brought up several times.
In February, the board unanimously voted to increase the non-resident fee for participation in recreation programs from $10 to $60 per event and participant, or $125 per family annual fee.
Cindy Livingstone, a Brandon resident, said the recreation fees seems to have become a personal issue.
‘The fees are outrageous, ridiculous,? she said. ‘I can’t pull enough kids together to coach a team, because the teams are too expensive. You need to lower the fees and lower the recreation costs.?
Not everyone felt the recreation fees should be lowered for non-residents.
‘I would like the tax dollars I pay to support Brandon residents,? said Mary Kassuba. ‘If you’re going to lower the fees, lower them for Brandon residents.?
Roger Ingles suggested that citizens who don’t like the non-resident fee should talk to Groveland Township Supervisor Bob DePalma.
‘It’s unfair that we pay for everyone else,? he said. ‘Do you want to play? You pay.?
A recreation subcommittee recommended last month that the fee be lowered to $25-$30 for non-residents.
Several speakers at the hearing felt that wasn’t low enough and the fee should be competitive with surrounding communities, which charge about $10-$15 for non-residents. But Bob Flath pointed out that Brandon Township cannot be fairly compared to other communities, as the township does not have the commercial, industrial or entertainment tax base of places like Independence Township or Oxford.
‘Ninety percent of taxpayers are homeowners,? he said. ‘If we have to pay, (Groveland) should have to pay also.?