Many York County residents might face new recreation tax and cuts to parks and rec funding
York County could start charging people in Rock Hill, Fort Mill and other municipalities a recreation tax while also slashing money to fund municipal recreation departments.
Recreation tax changes are part of ongoing discussion as county staff and elected officials form a budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. The county has a 1.5-mil recreation tax it only charges residents in unincorporated areas.
That’s $6 per year for every $100,000 in home value, or about $23 for the median York County home valued at $383,600 based on U.S. Census Bureau data. The county then sends revenue from the tax to city and town recreation programs.
That all could change.
“It would be my opinion to use this funding to fix our department and fund our parks, and do away with this altogether going to the municipalities,” York County Councilman Andy Litten said at a Jan. 28 health and environmental subcommittee meeting.
Three of seven council members sit on the subcommittee Litten chairs, including Councilwoman Debi Cloninger and Councilman Watts Huckabee. That group will form a recommendation on several recreation funding items ahead of the county manager’s budget recommendation in mid-April.
“This is so politically charged,” Cloninger said. “I think this is something that the entire council needs to talk about.”
Recreation tax for cities and towns
For decades, York County officials said they didn’t want to be in the parks and recreation business.
Yet they understood people living outside of cities and towns use parks and youth sports programs near them. So the county sent money to its municipalities.
The county started a recreation tax in 2005, and updated it three years ago, that it only charges residents in unincorporated areas. The tax generates nearly $1.7 million per year. This budget year, due to reserve funding, the county allocated nearly $1.9 million.
Amounts were largely based on population of unincorporated areas near the municipalities.
Rock Hill got the most money at $479,000 while Fort Mill and Tega Cay split their share, getting about $245,000 each. Clover ($221,000) and York ($212,000) got smaller amounts. Hickory Grove, McConnells, Sharon and Smyrna each got about $13,000.
Lake Wylie isn’t incorporated, so the county sent $404,000 to that area’s main youth sports organization, Lake Wylie Athletic Association.
Unlike when the tax began, York County now has a growing parks department.
There’s Field Day Park with athletic fields in Lake Wylie. Allison Creek Park on Lake Wylie expanded and Ebenezer Park in Rock Hill has undergone significant renovation. The county continues work toward opening the massive Catawba Bend Preserve in the fall near Rock Hill.
This year’s overall county budget brought $1.3 million in reserves over for parks and recreation. The capital projects budget shows $6.1 million for Catawba Bend and $2.3 million for Ebenezer Park. Park staff will grow from 25 to 35 employees this year, highlighting a funding need for operations.
“We’ve got a lot of land that isn’t open right now,” said County Manager Josh Edwards. “We also have parks that all residents of the county utilize.”
The impact on York County cities and towns
In recent years, municipal leaders have requested more money from York County as its population surges. Recreation leaders told the county council it would cost youth sports participants more to play without the funding, or that other recreation programs could suffer.
Six years ago, when county recreation funding was about half of what it is today, most of the nine mayors of York County municipalities jointly approached the county council to ask for more money. They said they were overrun with service needs from people living in unincorporated areas.
Rock Hill has been in discussion with York County about the possibility of diverting recreation funds, said deputy city manager Jimmy Bagley. The city will work with the county to offer a clear picture of how many people using its programs do and don’t live inside city limits, he said.
A funding loss could impact youth sports but also senior adult learning, art programs, dance classes and therapeutic recreation.
“We’ll examine programming options in more detail and present recommendations to City Council if changes become necessary,” Bagley said.
Fort Mill is aware of the county discussion and continually assesses the programs it offers, said Town Manager Cary Vargo.
“We are compiling participation data and will share with York County so they have a detailed understanding of the services provided by the Town of Fort Mill to their residents,” Vargo said.
Scott Couchenour, a Fort Mill resident who served on an advisory committee for area parks, asked York County Council on Monday to increase funding for municipal recreation departments. Buying land for more county parks, he said, may not be a fit for high-growth areas like Fort Mill and Tega Cay.
“Our part of York County, I think we’re under consensus that you’re not going to be able to buy land over there,” Couchenour said.
When would the tax change start?
If the county decides to cut off recreation funding to cities and towns, Litten sees no need to wait. He proposes putting the money toward county projects this coming budget year.
“I’ve read through the paperwork (on how the tax works) before,” he said. “It doesn’t seem extremely detailed. It’s not a well-thought out allocation.”
Huckabee has hesitation with such a quick change. Cities and towns are working through their budgets right now, he said, just like the county is.
“That’s a lot of money for the parks and rec departments around the county to have to find in their budgets,” Huckabee said.
Adding a countywide recreation tax
If the county switches to a model that uses the recreation tax for countywide facilities, a logical question follows.
“If all county residents are using the parks,” Edwards said, “why are only unincorporated residents paying this (tax)?”
County staff and a Clemson University consultant both recommend funding the growing county recreation department before any municipal ones, Edwards said. If the county charged the same rate across the county that it does for unincorporated areas now, the move would generate about $3 million per year.
“To me,” Huckabee said, “I believe we do need a countywide tax.”
Again, details on the timing of that type of change aren’t known yet.
The county could decide to leave the setup as is. Or it could continue to fund municipal programs through capital projects, scholarships for league participants who need them or flat-rate reimbursement per player, Litten said.
The health and environmental subcommittee hasn’t posted its next meeting date, although members discussed meeting at least once more ahead of Edwards recommending a budget in April. York County Council has two workshops planned before April, with the next coming Feb. 11. No agenda is posted.
