WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The City of Warner Robins is thinking about reducing some of its recreational fees. That was part of Mayor LaRhonda Patrick's budget message to council Monday night.
You may remember a discussion about the cost of using the Warner Robins Parks & Recreation center off Houston Road. Well, now, ahead of the 2023 budget, that conversation is back on the table.
About three times a week, for about $9, Lewis Hayward joins his friend and plays basketball at the Warner Robins Parks & Recreation Center.
"I mean, I always said I had a lot of people in my family that had high blood pressure, diabetes, and all of that, and from a child coming up, I said when I got older, I wasn't going to go through that. I am very conscious about what I put in my body. You can have all the money in the world, but if you got bad health, you can't enjoy it," Hayward said.
Access to the city's courts is important to him, but he says not everyone can afford to use them as often as him.
"The people with low-income, single parents, it should be reduced, because like I said, you're going to get the money. The more people you have in here, the more money you're going to make," Hayward said.
At Monday night's city council meeting, Mayor LaRhonda Patrick presented the city's 2023 budget proposal. One of her proposals includes reducing some parks and rec fees.
According to City Clerk Mandy Stella, this could impact entry and usage fees at the Warner Robins Parks & Recreation center, Deloris Toliver Park, and Fountain Pool.
Assistant Finance Director Holly Gross says it's something the public asked for during previous town hall meetings.
"These are the topics that came up, so that is definitely something that they are going to look at to see if we can afford to reduce some of those fees, but they would look at the whole recreation program as a whole," Gross said.
The city's Recreation Director Jarred Reneau said he saw the proposal for the very first time Monday night, so he is "not sure what fees would be cut or what percentage."
"Either way it goes, if they lower it for everybody or just do it for the low-budget people, it's a 'win-win' anyway, because like I said, if you lower the whole thing, you'll get -- I would say -- double or triple, because the more people that get in here, the more money you'll make," Lewis said.
13WMAZ also spoke with a few more people at the Warner Robins Parks & Recreation Center. They say they do not want the fee to go any lower, because they feel like the rec center will be overused. In addition, others also said they think the money has kept the building well-maintained.
Two other items that the public mentioned in the town hall meetings were code enforcement and roadside beautification.
"We're in a really good position. It's really a good time to start discussing how to use the AARP funds. We want to feature those so we can really earnestly find out how to spend those funds," Gross said.
Gross says the city finance committee will discuss parks and rec fee details soon, but the final decision will lie with mayor and council.