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York County Council approves intergovernmental recreation funding agreements after member raises concerns about ATAX/HTAX use
Summary
Council suspended rules and adopted a resolution authorizing intergovernmental agreements with municipalities for recreation services funding; one council member expressed concern that hospitality/tourism tax funds (ATAX/HTAX) should be reserved for tourism-generating activities in future budgets.
York County Council voted unanimously to suspend the rules, dispense with referral to committee and adopt a resolution authorizing intergovernmental agreements among the county and various York County municipalities to fund and provide recreation services.
A council member who pulled the item from the consent agenda said at the meeting that the use of hospitality- or accommodations-related tax funds (ATAX/HTAX) for recreation was not an ideal use of those funds in their view and asked that the council not allocate ATAX/HTAX funds to programs that do not clearly draw tourists to the county in the 2026–27 budget cycle. "I still don't think this is the right use of the funds," the member said, though they acknowledged the timing and the existing budget cycle meant the agreements would proceed for 2025–26.
Another council member moved to approve the item as submitted; the motion carried unanimously. No committee referral was required, per the adopted motion. The resolution authorizes county staff to enter intergovernmental agreements addressing funding and provision of recreation services; the resolution language and the list of municipalities referenced were not read verbatim in the meeting minutes.
Council discussion noted that future budgets should more carefully evaluate ATAX/HTAX allocations and the tourism yield of funded recreation programs before committing hospitality-tax funds.
