User fees fund county's skate park

One of the things that I respect as an administrator of a public agency is the citizens' right to express their opinions on how we, as public stewards of their resources, manage their agency. Part of my job, as the executive director of the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission is to explain to the people we serve, our positions as they relate to how we treat the public's financial and capital resources.

Public administrators in positions similar to mine often read letters to the editor to which we would like to respond. After reading the fourth letter to the editor concerning the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission's action to budget $2 million for a "skate park," I decided to write my own.

In the letters that I read there were alternative suggestions for a $2 million appropriation that the authors felt were more important than a skate park. These suggestions range from feeding the homeless to improving our schools. Although both suggestions are worthy of funding, neither of them fall under the jurisdiction of the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission. CCPRC is a Special Park District, which exists solely to provide recreation programs, facilities and services.

The CCPRC, in its mission, clearly describes an agency that will manage a "diverse" offering of programs and services. A "skate park/extreme park" is one more example of rounding out our "diverse" menu of offerings. Throughout this process I have personally gotten to know the 'skate community.' The people I have met are exceptional citizens who contribute to every aspect of our community, and our commission is proud to stand with them to provide these services. The time for us to listen to this constituency has come.

For those concerned about the cost, I would be willing to offer CCPRC's business model up as an example of how a public special park should operate.

For every $200,000 of assessed property, the CCPRC collects approximately $23 in taxes for operational expenses. We receive a little under that amount per year for capital. That $23 per year that the commission receives to operate pays for countless programs and services that the public can avail themselves of.

Those who use CCPRC facilities and programs are accustomed to user fees for the services that they receive. We have found over the years that the public will pay for a service that they value. We believe this model works because our attendance has increased each year since the park system opened. The best part of a user fee system is that if you do not like a service and you do not intend to use it, you do not have to pay for it. It has worked for us since 1979 when Palmetto Islands County Park opened in Mount Pleasant.

As a side note, in 1979 it cost $1 to get into Palmetto Islands County Park, today the cost remains at $1.

It is difficult to explain the business aspects of our agency in a short letter, but our doors and books are open to anyone who wishes to see them. One thing that I found most interesting in the letters to the editor opposing the skate park is that some have been written by people outside the boundaries of Charleston County.

These people should know that if they do not use the new skate park and do not pay the user fee, none of their money is going to support this facility.

TOM O'ROURKE
Executive Director
Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission
Riverland Drive
Charleston