Fourth costs to rise only slightly in future

Although the cost for the use of Trentini Stadium for the Fourth of July celebration has risen in recent years, there will be no dramatic leap in cost in the future, according to community use coordinator Edith Roeder.

In fact, the celebration this year will cost only about $100 more than last year's celebration. The Fourth of July committee funds the yearly event.

The most dramatic jump in costs occurred between July 2000 and 2001, when the Wake County Board of Education adopted a new fee structure.

The board approved the fee structure on May 14, 2001, based on a two-year study by the community use of facilities advisory committee. The new fees recover the costs of wear and tear on school facilities as they are used by different groups.

According to Associate Superintendent for Operational Services Walt Sherlin, the old fee structure, adopted by the board in 1994, was not efficiently recovering costs of facility use to the school system.

The new fee structure offers lower rental charges to non-profit organizations such as the Fourth of July committee, and school groups such as PTAs and booster clubs will not be charged at all.

Following the fee structure, the use of Trentini Stadium should cost the Fourth committee $3,005. However, the school system adjusted over 50 percent of the costs this year, only charging the committee $1,363.

The Fourth celebration is seen as a community event in Wake Forest, and "we're happy to subsidize some of the cost," Sherlin said.

Of the total $1,363 that the Fourth committee will be charged this year, 60 percent will go directly back to Wake Forest-Rolesville High School.

A portion of the money returned to the school will pay for the maintenance of the stadium. The rest will be an incentive for the school to host groups in the future. The incentive money goes into the principal's fund and must be used to benefit both the school and the community.

Another 24 percent will go to the high school to cover the cost of utilities, security, parking and any indirect costs.

The remaining 16 percent will go to the school system's central office to cover the cost of hiring two supervisors for the celebration and a $35 Community Schools processing fee.

Sherlin is not sure how many years it will take to fully phase in the new fee for the Fourth of July celebration. If the Fourth committe pays 5 percent more for the stadium each year, it will take 15 to 16 years for the school system to work up to charging the full $3,005.

According to Roeder, the school system will continue to work with the committee in the future, basing charges on what the committee can afford.

For example, if the celebration gets rained out one year, the school system will not expect the committee to be able to pay as much the following year, Roeder said.

"The goal of the school system is to be reasonable and fair with the (committee)," Sherlin said.