Recreation District seeks more money to improve parks - Dan Rodgerson

Recreation District seeks more money to improve parks
The Greenville News - Greenville, S.C.
Author: Ben Szobody
Date: May 24, 2005
Start Page: A.16
Section: Front
Text Word Count: 618

Document Text
Some residents say they need more, better playing fields

By Ben Szobody

STAFF_WRITER

bszobody@greenvillenews.com

Five months after the county spent $4 million for new and improved parks, the Greenville County Recreation District said the ones it already had need at least $10 million of work, and it wants taxpayers to help foot the bill.

A district proposal that surfaced Monday night in County Council's Finance Committee asks permission to increase property taxes by 2 mills, or about $9 extra a year for the county's median $111,800 home. The total district tax rate would increase to 6.7 mills, or about $30 a year for a home of the same value.

"I don't think it's going to happen," said committee Chair Judy Gilstrap, particularly in a reassessment year when she said tax bills are likely to increase anyway. Of the four committee members present Monday, two said they could support the proposal while two said they wouldn't.

The discussion was held to explore other options, including a state law that allows counties to gain a small percentage of added tax revenues in a reassessment year based on inflation.

The proposal to levy new taxes for leaning light poles, rusty fences and dirty bathrooms resurrects a conflicting issue for county taxpayers who have repeatedly asked for more parks and who struggle to hold practices and sports games at odd hours because of limited space and sub-par facilities. They've also consistently voted down tax hikes, including the sweeping "Penny for Parks" plan in 2002.

Chanell Moore, the district's chief financial officer, said the district has increased its millage for normal operations once since 1968 -- by 0.2 mills for disability needs. The requested hike would generate about $2.4 million a year and pay only for overdue maintenance in existing parks, she said.

In one discussed incident, a child recently received an electric shock because of a poorly maintained lighting system at Blue Ridge Middle School. Moore said more than $1 million in immediately needed repairs are related to lighting.

"We just don't think it's prudent to continue to build parks without an ability to maintain them," said Dan Rodgerson, the district's executive director.

The county's maintained park space has increased by 30 percent over the last five years, he said, while the district has lost tax income to city annexation and the recent elimination of the automobile property tax. Of the $4 million in county surplus money allocated to the district at the end of last year, about three-fourths was designated for new parks, Rodgerson said.

Before the committee meeting, however, he said he knew a tax increase of any sort is likely to be unpopular with voters and difficult for elected officials to embrace. Gilstrap, a Democrat, and Scott Case, a Republican, said they couldn't support the request, while Xanthene Norris, a Democrat, and Jim Burns, a Republican, said they could.

Gilstrap and Norris are among five council members facing re-election next year.

"People want parks," Gilstrap said. "They just don't want to pay for it. If we force them to pay, they're going to find council members who won't."

Case proposed finding out how much property tax money the county will be allowed to add to its current revenue stream based on this year's Consumer Price Index, or the inflation of the cost of goods. The county currently gets about $58 million in annual property tax revenues, according to current budget figures, while the nationwide CPI index for the last 12 months is 3.5 percent.

At those rates, the county would net an additional $2 million in revenues as a result of reassessment.

The vote to hold the tax increase proposal while the county's "CPI adjustment" is considered was unanimous.

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