Parks and Rec to contract assigner for sports officials to avoid individual business licenses

Mobile City Council members heard an explanation Feb. 11 of a proposed agreement with Fruit of the Spirit Athletics to serve as the assigner for referees in the city's sports leagues.

Parks and recreation staff said the $100,000-per-year contract will make a local company responsible for recruiting, assigning and paying referees for city leagues (except soccer), rather than paying individuals directly. Staff said the change was prompted by an internal finance finding that individuals acting as referees should hold business licenses; moving to a single assigner shifts licensing and insurance responsibilities to that vendor.

"All of our referees were going to have to have a business license. ... So in order for us to not have them all get a business license, we've gone with the option of doing an assigner," a Parks and Recreation staff member said. Staff said the referees will remain local and that the assigner will pay them directly and carry insurance and business licensing.

Council members raised concerns about younger referees (some as young as 16–18) and whether the arrangement would create a tax or licensing burden on individuals; staff replied the assigner model avoids requiring individual licenses. The agreement was listed among authorization items as "01137 authorized agreement with Fruit of the Spirit Athletics for professional services for parks and recreation, $100,000 per year."