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Liberty Lake council to review youth baseball field fees after league and staff report large year-to-year gap
Summary
City council agreed to a March 4 workshop on field fees and reserved study of prior-year billing after the Liberty Lake–Spokane Valley youth league and staff reported large differences between billed, paid and requested field‑use amounts.
The Liberty Lake City Council voted to schedule a workshop for its March 4 meeting to review field‑reservation fees after weeks of meetings between league volunteers and parks staff, and approved a separate administrative review of past invoicing practices.
The issue arose after the Liberty Lake–Spokane Valley Little League submitted a request for extensive field reservations and associated field‑prep services. Council members and staff described a large discrepancy between what the league was billed in 2024 and what the city’s adopted fee schedule would have produced.
City Administrator Mark McEvoy told council the league’s 2024 posted request translated to an extended price of about $45,780 under the fee schedule, but the league’s actual invoice paid last year was $3,295. McEvoy said staff previously applied unauthorized discounts and that the city’s adopted fee schedule was the basis for 2025 rates. League president PJ (identified in the meeting as the league president) said registrations were already open when updated field costs were communicated and that parents could not immediately be asked to pay more. PJ also said the league has grown (from about 200 athletes in earlier years to roughly 600 last year) and that spring season needs require many fields: “to successfully field games for 45 teams, that requires us to have at least 13 fields, 6 days a week.”
The council heard that the league’s revised 2025 request reduced requested hours from earlier totals and would still add charges for field prep. PJ told council the league’s revised request includes additional line items such as field preparation (dragging and lining) that could add “another $7,300.” Staff said the league’s revised submittal cut the number of requested hours substantially (staff cited a revised hours total of about 754) but that applying the adopted nonprofit hourly rates would still produce a much higher invoice than the $3,295 the league actually paid in 2024.
Council discussion focused on fairness, precedent and the city’s authority. Council member Kurtz moved to bring the issue back as a dedicated workshop at the next regular meeting; Council member Dunne seconded. The motion to schedule a March 4 workshop carried 7–0. Councilmember Kurtz explicitly asked staff for a regional fee comparison; staff agreed to provide that.
Council members also discussed interim options for the spring season given registration deadlines. City staff advised that the fees are set by ordinance as part of the adopted budget and that changing fees would require a budget amendment or ordinance change, but a procedural path exists to bring an ordinance forward and, if council chooses, expedite it by suspending rules. Multiple council members expressed openness to a one‑time concession but noted legal and budgetary constraints.
What’s next: council directed staff to bring background materials (history of invoicing, regional comparisons and possible ordinance language) to the March 4 workshop. The council instructed staff to prepare options for a short‑term resolution for the spring season if council wishes to act quickly, and to present the historical accounting that explains the gap between what was invoiced and what was posted under the fee schedule.
Ending: The council’s March 4 workshop will be the formal venue for detailed discussion and any potential ordinance or temporary relief. The council made no immediate change to the adopted fee schedule at the February 18 meeting.
