Now that the primary election is over, I’ll expand my explanation of the recreation funding that the County Commission voted to “give” to Tyrone. It is unfortunate, but true, that it is difficult or impossible to explain facts during a political campaign.
I did write an earlier letter to try to respond to some of the silly nonsense being circulated about the circumstances of the presentation of a check. In that letter I discussed some of the difficulties with some of the things done in the name of Tyrone recreation by the Tyrone Town Council and some peculiar, to me, behavior on their part.
It also dealt with a group of Tyrone citizens who have decided that they are going to take a stronger role in Tyrone’s recreation. And why I believed that a majority of the commission voted to help fund Tyrone recreation now.
What I did not do then was explain my reasons for supporting the formula that was used to determine the dollar amount of the check. I’ll do that now.
For several years, in the past, the commission had given Peachtree City Recreation a check for $50,000. This was increased, a couple of years ago, to $150,000. This money was for a specific purpose.
The money from the county was to allow access to Peachtree City programs by county residents, and to allow them to participate at the same cost as a Peachtree City resident. There is a great deal of participation by Peachtree City residents in county programs and vice versa.
Peachtree City residents are Fayette County residents and taxpayers. Any Peachtree City resident can participate in any Fayette County recreation program. They are charged the same, if there is a cost, as any other Fayette County resident.
Peachtree City has its own, very large, recreation program. According to our figures, Peachtree City spent about $4 million on recreation last year. It has many facilities that the other municipalities do not have and, in some cases, that the county does not have.
Peachtree City has baseball, soccer, football, basketball, softball and tennis. They also have a BMX track and a swim center. I am sure there are many other programs that I have not mentioned.
So, it’s obvious that the concept of the county financially assisting in municipal programs makes some sense. What should be the amount and who should receive it become the questions.
The original amount given to Peachtree City ($50,000) was established, as far as I can tell, arbitrarily. Then it was increased because it was “too low.” But still it was determined arbitrarily.
This is a very complex issue because of the different relationships, participation levels and location of various county facilities that have grown up over the years.
These facilities and locations were themselves arbitrary. There are county facilities near, or in, Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Brooks. Tyrone has had county facilities as well (Shamrock).
After the commission completed a recreation study, and plan, we had a much better handle on what was where and what was needed and where it was needed. So, the commission looked at several ways to use the Peachtree City funding amount to establish an amount for Tyrone as well. It also allows us to set a benchmark for Peachtree City for the future.
Two ways seemed to make some sense: per capita or a portion of the amount they themselves committed to recreation.
I do not support using per capita for two reasons. One is that population, believe it or not, is subject to some dispute. There are many agencies that “count people” and they don’t always agree with each other. The other reason is that some communities in Fayette County do not spend ANY money on recreation. If we had used a “per capita” amount, they still would not have a program for us to contribute to.
Using the recreation amount budgeted by each municipality is a much better method. A real budget number can easily be determined and can exactly define it. The amount they spend indicates the scope of the programs available.
The county resident who wants to participate in a Peachtree City program has a much wider range of facilities and programs to participate in. It makes the most sense to support those programs with the most money, does it not?
Even though it was kind of a backwards way to get a figure, I think the amount makes sense and it was established on a rational basis.
Peter Pfeifer
County Commission, Post 3
Peachtree City, Ga.