School Committee's New Facility Fee Draws Protests From Residents [poll]
School department wants to charge $15 per athlete user fee to youth sports groups who utilize school gyms.
A new policy that outlines fees and requirements for using Tewksbury school facilities saw a second reading at Wednesday nght's School Committee meeting, and several residents spoke out in opposition.
At issue is a proposed policy change that would add a $15 per season participant fee for every member of any organization that regularly uses school facilities.
Several representatives of the Tewksbury Boys Basketball League (TBBL) spoke out in opposition to the $15 fee, claiming it would create a financial hardship for already over-taxed families struggling to make ends meet in the current economic climate.
Chris Kingston, a TBBL board member, asked the committee to "Give us some sort of outline as to where the fee is going."
"This is something that is near and dear to our hearts," Kingston added. "We service 800-plus kids in the town ... and it's something that for many families would be an added, additional economic burden."
Patti DeFrancesco, who has had children participate in both the boys and girls basketball leagues and serves on the Tewksbury Girls Basketball League (TGBL) board of directors, claimed that existing tax revenues should cover the costs of youth programs utulizing school facilities. Under both the present policy and the proposed new policy, recognized youth organizations are not charged a rental fee when they use school facilities during their normally scheduled hours of operations. These hours extend until 11 p.m. on weeknights and weekends during the school year.
"My biggest concern ... is that our taxpayer money is already being used to keep the schools open during the time that these children are using these schools and I'm not really understanding where this money would go," DeFrancesco said. "If it's operating costs I would assume that's already covered in the budget."
Both DeFrancesco and TBBL board member Brian Lelos expressed concerns that the increased fees may prevent some families from participating in youth sports.
"It's already tough on people to pay for sports," Lelos said. "We have people that we know are financially strapped. Let's not hit the kids. Let's try to avoid that. You're hitting the children because you're hiting the parents and they're struggling out there."
School committee member Brian Dick, who chairs the policy use subcommittee, explained that the $15 would be consistent with the field maintenance fee that groups who use outside playing fields are currently charged by the town.
Organizations such as the Tewksbury Youth Soccer League have been paying $15 per participant per season for the past two years. The fee covers such services as field mowing and field lining, provided by the town.
"The new policy aligns with current town policies (for outside field use)," Dick said.
Other proposed policy changes include a schedule of increased user fees for outside organizations that want to rent town facilities. For instance, renting the high school gymnasium currently costs $30 per hour with no minimum number of hours required. The new fee would be $50 per hour with a $150 (three hour) minimum.
The new policy also requires organizations to carry increased liability insurance coverage in order to be eligible to rent the facilities. At present, a $500,000 insurance policy is required. The new regulations would require a $1 million per incident liability policy with a $3 million aggregate.
The new policy also requires all user groups to run CORI checks on all coaches and supervisors involved in their programs.
The new facility use policy would have some benefits to town organizations, however, including the creation of a list of 10 current youth sports organizations which would be designated as Recognized Youth Athletic Organizations and be afforded preferential treatment when requesting gym time.
"We want to make sure that our town organizations...get the 'first dibs' on the gym time," Dick explained. "We want to prevent other organizations from coming in and starting a new league and affecting the historical use of our organizations."
The new policy would also eliminate a current requirement that organizations must be comprised of at least 50% Tewksbury residents in order to rent a facility. There would be no residency requirement under the new policy.
Parental Advisory Committtees would also benefit under the new policy. School PACs are currently splitting custodial and kitchen costs on a 50/50 basis with the school department. Under the new rules the school department would absorb all of the kitchen and custodial costs incurred by the PACs.
"We feel that the PACs are an extension of our schools," Dick said. "They support our educational process and they raise money (to help) our schools to do a lot of things."
Under the new policy, the town recreation center building on Livingston Street would now be available for rent through the school department.
School Committee chairperson Krissy Polimeno asked for the public's input on the new policy before it is voted on at next school committee meeting on Oct. 26. Polimeno invited Tewksbury residents to contact either Brian Dick or committee member Dennis Francis, who also sits on the facilty use subcommittee.
"One of the things we're trying to do is be consistent with town policy and be fair to all," Francis said.
Susan Bishop
12:57 pm on Thursday, October 13, 2011
if this fee is the same type of fee I pay for the softball and baseball programs in town, it only sounds fair that the fee should be on every sport. As much as I don't want to pay another fee, there is no sense that the schools should have to pay more out of pocket than the fields in town do.
Karen Daley
8:32 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
Nobody likes paying more fees, but as as Susan mentioned this fee is already in place for outside sports. These sports cause is an additional expense incurred by schools that are already strapped for money, and it just can't be absorbed. It really is fair that "inside" sports also be charged a user fee.
Dan O'Neill
9:13 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
The soccer organization always took care of their own fields...now they are hiring the town to do the maintenance....now the town is looking at this as a profit center....Let's charge user fees to the kids(parents) for use of any town facility...we as tax payers already support these facilities...now they want to charge us again....
Many parents cannot absorb anymore cost/fees.....we as a family pay for every sport that our son is in....buy the equipment....transport him to the games etc....
This town does nothing for younger youth athletics...the various organizations & parents keep youth athletics alive....you have wait until high school before you get any type of break with the cost of sports in this town....if your kid makes the cut....
Mark Duquette
5:28 pm on Friday, October 14, 2011
The town has always mowed the soccer fields and in the last few years painted the lines on the fields, but the rest was (and still is) done by the league.
L C
9:21 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
News for you...there is no break once you get to high school, you have a higher than $15 user fee. Still have to transport them to the pick up point, provide your equipment and pay for "warm ups", extra gym workouts, team dinners, work events, etc. If you have a child that play sports, you pay for it...one way or another.
Shannon Scopa
3:28 pm on Friday, October 14, 2011
I pay the fee for soccer and I paid it for baseball. Do I like it? No. But it should be fair...all pay or none pay.
Tim
10:59 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
You are right and now we will have to pay for basketball, so all this means is an additional tax of $60-$90 per child per year. I already pay taxes, so why am I paying more?
Rich
7:15 pm on Friday, October 14, 2011
No where in any of this article is the necessary information to make a knowledgeable or justifiable decision to accept or reject a user fee. I have seen no data to suggest the need for such a fee. I expected more from Brian when I voted for him. I expected someone who would add value to the committee to offer unique alternatives to make incremental improvements with little to no resources. We have seen innovative ways to add value, town wide single day trash pickup, recycling, school redistricting, bus routes, etc.. Brian do better PLEASE!! Before the committee suggests a fee, present a just case -- get the data -- do your homework!
Rich
7:27 pm on Friday, October 14, 2011
What is more amazing is that it seems most people are agreeing to pay the fee without any knowledge of the necessary information to support the justification of the fee!!
Paul
9:50 am on Saturday, October 15, 2011
Seems to me that court time in the school does require a custodian to clean up the gym and rest areas and lock up after the activities. You are also looking at increased wear and tear on the facilities, increased liabilities etc. It makes sense to me - actually surprised it has taken us this long to jump on the bandwagon.
Tewksbury Mom
3:43 pm on Wednesday, October 19, 2011
We pay a lot for sports already and the people running the leagues don’t take a salary and if we’re not paying for court time and not replacing jerseys every year, where the hell is all that money going? My son who is in HS has been playing basketball for this town since he was 5 and this is the ONLY year we are supposedly getting new jerseys. Same with my daughter. Some of those jerseys are disgusting and this town should be ashamed for reusing them. More importantly, every league should publicly disclose where all the money they collect goes to… How much do we pay for basketball? If there’s no usage fee for court time, at least not to the schools, where does all the money go? I don’t like the fact that they’re obviously trying to use our school facilities to make money by renting them out and it seems they don’t care to whom at this point. It will become a real problem if they pass that policy to open it up to external/non town related groups… I have a problem with that. Seems to me it’s yet another penny pinching move to suck money out of the residents to pay for budget items they can’t cover like pensions, health benefits, etc…
Bruce Panilaitis
11:13 am on Friday, October 21, 2011
While Ken Miano and the rest of the TBBL board could answer this more completely, they do need to pay for all of the gym time on weekends, the referees, t-shirts and trophies at the end of the season, new basketballs and other supplies for the coaches, and several other costs associated with the programs.
Only the gym time during the week is currently "free." However it is my understanding that we (the school department) are already paying a janitor to be there, so the fee would I guess cover the extra electricity, water, wear and tear, etc. that happens when you have hundreds of children coming in and out of the schools from 6 until 10 each night. I won't enjoy paying it with my 6 boys in youth sports, but we pay it to maintain the soccer and baseball fields, so it should be applied town-wide to all youth sports that utilize town property, or it should be abolished entirely.
I agree by the way on transparency regarding their finances, but as a non-profit I believe they are already subject to that through the state.
Rich
11:54 am on Friday, October 21, 2011
See link Below for IRS Filings. Where it states Charity Name typin in tewksbury to get the listing -- you can view other searches as well.
http://www.charities.ago.state.ma.us/charities/index.asp
Rich
12:05 pm on Friday, October 21, 2011
http://www.charities.ago.state.ma.us/charities/index.asp?charities_app_ctx=details&charities_sub_ctx=dl_doc&origin=details&bod=1319194761&fn=252632263333293223868674&did=2929292529
This link shows the 2010 Boy Basketball filing.
It is a TIF file -- you should be able to save to your computer and open up in picture viewer
Rich
9:13 am on Saturday, October 22, 2011
Here are the numbers for a sampling of the Town's Youth NON-PROFIT Sport's Programs
Boy's Basketball 2007:$41229 2009:$45143 2010:$69427 Average Bal per expense 54%
Football 2007:$150389 2008:$155008 2009:$152565 Average Bal per expense 289%
Soccer 2008:$71774 2009:$89087 2010:$108043 Average Bal per expense 61%
Softball 2008:$115398 2009:$28610 2010:$38166 In 2008 Softball program was saving to expand and build Field of Dreams which was complete in 2009. Average Bal per expense excluding 2008 is 52%
Seems that the Programs in general are maintaining a healthy balance of funds as a function of their expenses at around 50%. This appears to be good fiscal practice. However, the football program is just way out of control! At an average fund balance to expense ratio of almost 300:1 maybe we should question this?
Robert Rosa
5:41 pm on Monday, October 24, 2011
Hey Rich, not sure where you are getting your number for football, but they are clearly not accurate, TYF does not generate that type of fees each year, trust me, i will gladly share our financials with you, but it really bother me how anyone can just make accusations without all the facts.
Rich
6:02 pm on Monday, October 24, 2011
Robert,
All numbers are with respect to net assets. Which is Line 27 of the leagues Form 990-EZ filing for the year 2007/2008/2009. This is the number quoted for all of the above leagues. It is not simply the cash balance alone. If you run the link you too can download the same forms filed the football organization -- just as I did. In fact, did you know that there are two such football organizations in town? The youth football organization has $152k in overall assets and the Friends of Youth Football account also posts almost $70k in overall assets.
Please -- try the link to the non-profit filings. I think you will be surprised.
Robert Rosa
7:00 pm on Monday, October 24, 2011
Richard, Thanks i am very familar with 990 form, since i was a finance director for 3 non-profits, the youth football program in Tewksbury is registered as Friends of TYF. Our balance sheet, financials, budget are available to all. Most of our balance sheet is tied to a few activities. TYF has a scholarship program that provides scholarships to former members of the program, we typically give it out about $3-4k every year. Secondly, we have some significant expenditures coming up, we will need to replace most of our helmets at a cost of $25k-$30k over the next 2 years, and lastly we will also be spening about $8k on improvements to the field area, installing a new retaining wall, and improving the drainage situation, so on the surface it would look like a healthy balance sheet, but given the expenditures, we have to plan in advance and the assets will balloon up till we outlay the money. Thanks
Rich
7:14 pm on Monday, October 24, 2011
Robert,
Excellent feedback and information. Hopefully the School Committee is doing their homework and asking for such input on future expenditures relative their respective balance sheets. By the way, I really like the idea about the helmet replacement, especially if they are to help with the issue of concussions. Thank you for sharing your in depth analysis.
Rich
8:50 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
More information regarding Net Assets vs Fund Expenses for Baseball and Friends of Football
Not too sure what Friends of Youth Football is? But here are the numbers, again these are taken directly from their respective IRS filings which are in the public domain and I refer you to the Links above for reference.
Friends of Youth Football: 2010: $69382 Average Net Asset per Expense 93%
Youth Baseball: 2008:$193898 2009:$230069 Average Net Asset per Expense 123%
This seems high to me with respect to the other sports programs in town. But I need to check our surrounding communities to get an apples to apples comparison. Stay Tuned
Rich
10:54 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Please Note that the above statement for "Football" refers to the Tewksbury Redmen Football Club, Inc. Which is not the same as the Tewksbury Youth Football Program. Sorry for the confusion. In any event, they have a pretty strong balance sheet -- WHY??
Tim
10:32 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Rich thanks for the numbers and info, I read some of the info you provided and it was good reading. Brian Dick is / was in charge of the Redmen Football club, also a leader in getting a new "TURF" field for the new high school, also a sitting school committee member who vote on issues that affect the outcome of these groups. Is this new money going to be used for a new turf football field. The Redmen club uses school facilites and make money from them, does anybody want to "fess up" and let all the people know the whole story. Is it right for Mr. Dick to be involved in all these things he is directly involved with.
Jon Pratt
3:59 pm on Saturday, October 22, 2011
Gee Wilmington runs a program for $50. less
Don't keep enabling these youth sports program that keep taking parent's kids monies and offering little in return.
REC. BASKETBALL LEAGUE (WRBL) Registration period is Tuesday, August 30 - Thursday, October 13.
Grades 3 – 10, $75, 10 Weeks, Saturdays, December 3 – February 18, no games 12/24 or 12/31. This will mark the 49th
year for Wilmington Recreation Basketball! There are 10 Saturday games and one weeknight practice each week, with separate
divisions for boys and girls. Late registrations will be accepted based on availability; late registrants pay a $20 fee.
Volunteer coaches are needed.
Rich
9:03 am on Sunday, October 23, 2011
Actually, Tewksbury runs a fine set of youth sports programs that add much value to this and surrounding communities. I am only trying to expose the fact that an added fee of $15 per child per season amounts to about $6k in additional revenue per sport per season. It is my contention to the school committee to look into the leagues finances and determine if the fee can be absorbed by the league itself. In these financial times I am onlynasking that each league save 10% on their expense sheet. This should be easily accomplished and the first priority before any increase is requested. If they can't do it then the school committee should be working for the community's best interest and look into the expense sheets and question the amounts and show good faith to the town. To simply propose a fee without justification and knowledge of the need is simply irresponsible! The leagues filings are itemized and quit well organized as well as descriptive. I just don't believe a fee increase is justified by any sport given their balance combined with minor savings, everyone benefits.
Chris Kelly
9:05 am on Sunday, October 23, 2011
What are the expenses associated with maintaining a gym that goes beyond what the janitor is already doing on a regular basis? Outdoor sports have the additional cost of field maintanence. I fail to see similar expenses for an indoor gym that does not require grass mowing and watering.
Jon Pratt
10:08 am on Sunday, October 23, 2011
If you factor in the utilities,manpower(usually overtime) and daily maintenance of these gyms adds up. The youth leagues account for 85% of the use. The gyms need to be maintained. The older gyms are shot due to a lack of maintenace. Looking at the floors of all these gyms someone is going to have to pay to refinish the floors. After a year of wear and tear, a typical gym floor will need a recoat. Once every 10 years or so, the floor should be sanded down to bare wood, lines are re-painted, it is re-sealed and re-coated. This is not happening. Our new gyms Ryan 13yrs old and the Wynn 8yrs old are looking tired. Mainly because the youth programs allow the kids to run in from the street dragging in all the crap on their sneakners that ruins the finish.
The schools should past on the cost and maintain a" healthy balance of funds" for anticipated or unanticipated cost.
The girl's BBall pay $60.00 and more than likely have to pass it on. The boy's pay $125.00 and should be force absorb the cost.
Tim
10:23 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
I did some inquiries and actually it cost $100 for the boys to play and found out they also are forced to pay much more rental costs than the girls. I also found out that the boys and girls pay to have maintenance done every year, and thier complaint is that most of the damage is done by the non-indoor sports and they pay to fix it
Chris Kelly
10:43 am on Sunday, October 23, 2011
@jon - this makes sense.
I hope the town thinks about this issue if and when the town installs a field turf field for the football team. Although the monies are supposedly coming from donations, I know these fields have a life expectancy of about 10 years. Although a grass field requires more daily maintenance, a grass field lacks a one million dollar investment every ten years.
Jonathan Ciampa
4:42 pm on Sunday, October 23, 2011
If all the fees and revenue collected from the youth sports organizations went directly to the upkeep and maintenance of the facilities, I would find this much less offensive. The fact is the gyms floors receive less than the minimal maintenance and it is showing. The nets at the Heath Brook are broken and we will be asked to pay for gym time in a facility where you can't actually play the sport you are there for.
If the town wants to cry for money, then show the leagues the usage cost and the revenue from tournaments and other organizations, THEN figure out how much more is needed to break even. NO PROFIT should be made off the parents / taxpayers who are already supporting these facilities thought property taxes.
What is next by the way? Will we be charging the Drama Club to use the auditorium when they host a performance on the weekends?
Rich
8:45 am on Monday, October 24, 2011
Jonathan,
All good comments. However, the expenses and revenue for each sport is clearly defined in their IRS filings, which are public (see the above link to view). Like I said, each sport is actually reporting and filing with consistency and clarity. However, I would agree, that in fact, rarely is the balance sheet and expense sheet questioned in regards to the $15 fee. This is why I can't understand how this poll could be in favor by 49%? Does not make sense how the townspeople would be in favor of a proposition without actually being presented a justification for the fee? Does not make sense -- clearly if there were just cause and need and, as you say, clear physical evidence of the maintenance then most certainly there would be no need to question a fee. However, the fee will only bring in an additional $6k on average per sport per season. This is typically about 10% of their respective balance sheet. I propose the leagues go back and look at their expenses and try to cut back by 10% and show good faith to the parents and town. I have forwarded the actual filings for 3yrs of the Football, Boys Basketball, Soccer, and SoftBall to Bill Gorman. Maybe he can put them on the Patch Site for all to see.
If any have been in the Heath Brook Gym or even the Dewing you can understand Jon's frustration. The Sal Frasca Soccer fields and FootBall fields however, are meticulously maintained, nice to see! Maybe the other sports could look to them for guidance?
Scott
11:17 am on Monday, October 24, 2011
Real simple question for the school committee...Where is the money going? Figure 1000 kids playing basketball x $15 = $15,000. No way annual gym maintenance comes anywhere close to that figure - so it goes to other uses. Please be specific. Exactly what is the money going to be used for?
Alex Ro
7:10 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
I want to know where the money is going from these sports. The amounts that were posted the other day were high amounts, what are they doing with this money. Seeing a few of the groups with 100,000+ makes me wonder why we are paying such high fees for anything. Especially when the town is taking care of the fields, i dont under stand it all. And I wont get into the fundraising.
Rich
8:42 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Alex,
The Links above take you to their IRS filings. All of the leagues do a very good job of itemizing their respective expenses.
Robert Rosa
8:57 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Friends of Tewksbury Youth Football is the youth football and cheerleading program for Tewksbury, we have 3 divisions, juniors, 5th&6th travel, and 7th&8th travel. not sure what the other organization is, it may be the High School Redmen's Organization that support TMHS football program. As far as our program goes, i can share our budget, we are planning a loss this year due to increased expenses across the board. Residents should know, we have donations that get earmarked for specific activities like new helmets, scholarship fund, etc, so their are assets on the book that cant be used for anything but was specificied, these cannot be included in our expense budget in the normal process. If anyone is interested, contact me. TYF President
Rich
10:51 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Robert,
Thanks for clearing that up. The IRS filings I reported as Football were for the Tewksbury Redmen Football Club, INC. Sorry for the confusion and I will make a note in my previous submission.
Rich
10:47 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Comparative IRS filings for Wilmington: Again this is Net Assets
Lacrosse: 2007:$24215 2008:$25381 2009:24716 Avg. Net Asset per Exp.is 66%
Football: 2007:$46232 2008:$43855 2009:$45310 Avg. Net Asset per Exp. 104%
Soccer : 2007:$144721 2008:$137365 2009:$184056 Avg. Net Asset per Exp. 82%
Baseball: 2007:$-23567 2008:$-34384 2009:$-20054 Avg. Net Asset per Exp. -32%??
Seems the Baseball program runs lean and mean so I would not include this in your final analysis. So in 3 programs in Wilmington Average about 84% for Avg Net Asset per Expense. In Tewksbury, If we remove the Redmen Football Club the Average is 77% So comparatively speaking Tewksbury seems to be in line with the surrounding community programs. This should be good news for all. Hope this was helpful for the community and eye opening for the School Committee. Because now they need only look at the respective activities expense sheets, which are all very well documented. Good Luck.
Tim
10:39 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The mean and lean years are a result of Fred Daley.