Kenosha County committee approves changes to park rental and event fees

Speaker 2 (Unidentified Speaker) told the committee that staff were recommending several changes to park rental and event fees intended to reduce public confusion and better match demand. The committee approved the package by voice vote.

The approved changes include removing fee collection on July 3 at Old Settlers Park (no change to July 4 operations), lowering a particular interior pavilion rate from $100 to $85 and adding a $500 base fee for vendor/market events that would cover market-specific services. "The revenue that is netted from that is not yet released," Speaker 2 said, explaining that collections on the third produced only modest revenue while creating coordination issues.

In discussion, Speaker 3 and others asked whether collecting on July 3 was required or common and whether state law restricted higher nonresident fees. Speaker 2 said last year the county typically collected about $2,000–$3,000 on July 3 at Old Settlers Park versus roughly $15,000–$20,000 on July 4 at Silver Lake Park, and noted state law limits nonresident surcharges to no more than double resident rates.

After clarifying that the new vendor market fee is an addition to the schedule rather than a modification to existing pavilion rates, Speaker 1 asked for a second and called a voice vote; members answered "aye" and the motion passed. Speaker 1 thanked staff for the report and the changes will take effect as posted in the county fee schedule.

The committee did not record a roll-call tally with members' names in the transcript; the approval was made by voice vote during the meeting.