Rec money formula needs tweaking

York County might be justified in recalibrating the way it dispenses money to cities and towns for recreation programs. But the formula approved Monday brings a huge windfall to some municipalities and a pittance to others, who will see their recreational funding dwindle in future years.

The idea behind the formula was to drastically reduce base funding for some communities but to soften the blow by increasing overall funding for next year with money from the county’s general fund. That would give planners a buffer as contributions from the county are further reduced in the future.

The buffer ensures that all municipalities will get a one-time overall increase, but the real impact can be seen in the reduction in base funding. Under the new formula, the town of Clover will receive 17 percent less in base funding from the county. The towns of Hickory Grove, McConnells, Sharon and Smyrna will see a drop of 29 percent each, and the city of York’s rec money will be reduced by as much as 33 percent.

There also are winners in this formula. Base funding for the city of Rock Hill will increase from $511,656 to $555,036. But its total funding will increase to $800,065.

Likewise, base funding for Fort Mill and Tega will increase substantially – while both also receive even more in general fund money. Fort Mill’s base funding will grow from nearly $70,000 to nearly $150,000, with overall funding of more than $215,000 in 2016.

Lake Wylie’s base funding will grow from nearly $70,000 to more than 153,000, with overall funding of more than 221,000.

We agree that recreation money should go where the people are. Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Tega Cay are the county’s large population centers.

But is it necessary to reward these communities with extra money from the general fund in addition to already significant increases in base funding? It seems more reasonable to apportion the extra money to the smaller communities that are receiving big hits in their rec budgets.

Giving them the lion’s share of the extra money to help with the transition to lower base funding would give them time to come up with a plan to absorb the cuts. That could mean eliminating or paring down some rec programs, or increasing dues for those who use the programs.

But those changes wouldn’t have to be implemented next year with a little extra money to carry the towns through another year. Or the county could dole out the extra money over several years, if the towns elect to receive it that way.

The new formula divides the $1.1 million in recreation funding among the four school districts that comprise all the individual cities and towns in the county. The formula is based on a mix of population, tax base and participation in both youth and adult programs. The money helps compensate for the fact that the county doesn’t sponsor its own recreation programs.

There is nothing wrong with the way the formula for base funding is devised. The issue is the disparity between winners and losers when the money to cushion the cuts in base funding is doled out.

For some communities, this is their primary source of recreation money. The county shouldn’t be starving some towns while providing a bonanza to others.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Rec money formula needs tweaking."