Rec authority chair challenges county commissioners’ comments on operations/services; offers potential solution

The following is a note from Caroline P. Blaylock, the chair of the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority, regarding the continuing operations of the agency and a possible solution to continuing funding concerns.

As Board Chairman of the RFPRA, I feel compelled to respond to the current situation between the RFPRA – city and county for the benefit of the public’s understanding.

Over and over, we have heard from a few specific county commissioners that RFPRA “fees are too high and need to come down,” “we need to get back to programming consistent with 1980s” and “we need more accountability at the RFPRA.” These phrases have become the pitch line for those aforementioned County Commissioners without any meaningful discussion of how to address these issues, much less to articulate execution of their tag lines. I would like to give you some insight on the funding issues the RFPRA has been dealing with the past six years and how it has affected our fee/rental schedule as well as participation numbers.

1. The RFPRA has seen a reduction in budget from the county of more than $600,000 over the past six years. We have gone from a budget allocation of $2.5 million to $1.84 million. This reduction correlates to an increase of 40 percent to 60 percent in fees that the RFPRA now has to generate in order to operate. The city, on the other hand, has demonstrated a commitment to maintaining and upgrading facilities and as a result, these facilities moved from losing revenue to making a profit since 2008.

2. The RFPRA has frozen five positions in an effort to cut personnel costs.

3. The RFPRA has no control over the increase in workers comp, Medicaid and insurance that the RFPRA is required to provide by law.

4. The RFPRA has three SPLOST facilities which the authority now maintains the expense. The department had NO say in how to provide for these expenses. We have contemplated closing facilities in an effort to reduce expenses; however, when we discussed this last year (the Scout Hut in Shannon), it was very apparent from the community response that this was not acceptable. (Commissioner Garry) Mr. Fricks went on record in the last City-County meeting as saying he “did not want to be the one that cut funding to the RFPRA but he did not want to raise taxes, either.” As my mother always told me, you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

5. Despite the tremendous cut in funding from the county, our participation numbers remain strong and consistent with previous years. This is contrary to (Commissioner Irwin) Mr. Bagwell’s assertion that our participation rates have declined. This is a matter of public record and Wendy Reid will be more than happy to provide detailed numbers.

I am always one to “think outside the box” so my solution to the current issue is fairly simple but not without significant debate. My belief is that EVERY child in this city and county deserves the opportunity to participate in recreational sports. By continually cutting our funding, causing us to drive up fees, we have indirectly privatized rec sports and eliminated specific demographics of our citizens that need it most, those who are economically challenged. With this in mind, we should consider allocating 1 mill of our property taxes specifically to fund the RFPRA. Currently, our cost per capita for rec sports is $20.36 per taxpayer annually. If you compare this to other communities similar in size to Rome-Floyd County, this is more than $15 less than the average. Ironically, by allocating 1 mill of our taxes to recreational sports, we would likely generate an economic impact of $10 to $12 increase per tax payer. This solution would also remove the “political football” of dual funding and double taxation.

The RFPRA is not a perfect organization but those associated with it are willing to come to the table and have transparent communication to discuss what’s best for our community as well as address specific concerns of citizens. I have been very impressed and applaud the efforts of (City Manager) Sammy Rich and (County Manager) Jamie McCord to negotiate an agreement. It is my hope that the City and County Commissioners will trust the foresight and wisdom of these two gentlemen to do what is best for Rome and Floyd County.

I have been an athlete my entire life and it seems like things always come down the basic components of participation. In order for a team of any kind to be successful you must to have three components:

1. Communication – Transparent and inclusive.

2. Team work – The ability to work with all members of the team, in the this case city – county and rfpra

3. Leadership – In order to lead, we must serve.

My hope is that the elected officials of this city and county will realize the enormous impact that the RFPRA has not only on Floyd County residents but to incoming economic opportunities that will benefit our community as a whole.

Respectfully,

Caroline P. Blaylock

RFPRA Chairman