City Council Approves Changes To Parks & Rec Fees, Delays Implementation

A proposal to change the fee structure for youth sports in Lawton was approved by the City Council this week, a change supporters feel will allow the city to add more youth activities this year.

The proposal, which received a unanimous recommendation from the Parks and Recreations Department, was passed at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. It allows the current system, which charges on a per team basis, to be altered and begin charging a flat, per player, fee. According to supporters of the plan, it will allow the city to add up to three new activities this year alone. The change is expected to generate as much as $48,500 from participants of youth sports programs in Lawton. 35% of that revenue would be allocated to be re-invested in sports and recreation programs.

After passing through the opening consent agenda process without comment, but later in the evening, councilman Keith Jackson, a long time advocate of city involvement in youth sports programs, asked the council to reconsider the proposal in order to delay implementation of the new structure. Jackson state he requested the delay in implementation so that the change would not affect the youth football season. Booster clubs have been formed for many of the teams, and that it would be too late to alter the structure for the programs. After reviewing the proposal, council members did stay implementation of the new structures until October. The plan originally had the new fee structure set to take effect Aug. 10.

The new fee structure sets a flat fee structure of $25 per player per sport participated in, with a late registration fee of $5. As it currently stands, fees are charged per team, ranging from $60 to $150 per team, depending on the sport the team participates in.

source: the Lawton Constitution, SW OK News