News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
White County officials discussing the possibility of investing more money into parks and recreation facilities.
County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson said the county currently puts two cents of the its property tax revenue towards parks and recreation. Steering Committee A Member Derrick Hutchings said he would not be opposed to increasing that contribution by up to another cent as recreation needs more support from the county.
“If you drive by the ball fields during ball season, it is packed,” Hutchings said. “And six hundred and something kids went through the little league this year there and all parks and rec talks about is the fact that the ball fields are not up to par.”
Steering Committee A Chair TK Austin said the county’s demand for recreation options is growing and these facilities have the potential to bring in more people and revenue. Austin said the steering committee should leave the county’s contribution alone so the budget committee can look into what options the county has.
“I don’t want to try and commit budget to something that’s not feasible to do,” Austin said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff that’s probably as important as that, if not more.”
Austin said he has had multiple people ask about why the county has facilities that are noticeably worse than some neighboring areas.
“You know you take Dunlap and Jasper, I mean they (are) two phenomenal, and you can’t tell me that they’re making more money than we are,” Austin said. “They’re investing I guess in their future.”
Robinson said the county is expecting an increase in tax revenue in the near future that would also bring more money in for parks and rec. Robinson said that increase alone would help pay for the parks and recreation director that the county is currently considering.
“The devil’s advocate to that is most of that is done by the cities,” Robinson said. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t step up and do it. I’m not saying that, but to compare and say hey, why aren’t we doing what they’re doing, the cities are pitching in with that.”
