Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

A proposed increase in rental rates for buildings at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds is set to be finalized March 8 at the county commissioner’s meeting.

Bill Bell, Maintenance Director for Douglas County, says there are a few reasons for the proposed increase in rental rates. Some of these reasons include higher demand for renting the buildings and higher utilities.

One example of the increase in demand for renting buildings is the arena.

In 2000, the county took a gamble on building a new arena in the fairgrounds. The general feeling was that the arena would either become a white elephant, or would be a major success, Bell said.

As it turned out, the arena became a huge success. As a result the arena was quickly booked up.

“It’s very rare you won’t see an event going on in the arena on the weekends,” Bell said.

Since the arena can be booked months in advance, the building is limited in use to people who wait to schedule an event. The proposed fee restructuring is partially in response to this problem.

The deposit was increased on the arena to make people think twice before making a reservation way in advance, Bell said.

In addition, the deposit is also non-refundable if a group or individual decides to cancel their reservation.

However, if there were extenuating circumstances, such as a massive snowstorm, the deposit would be refunded, Bell said.

With the current rates, the county is getting back 25 percent of the operating and maintenance costs of the buildings. The proposed rate increases would recover 50 percent of the costs of operating and maintaining the fairground buildings.

In addition to the increased demand for the buildings, the price of utilities has skyrocketed. The utilities for the fairgrounds cost a little over $100,000 a year, Bell said.

Even with the increase in the rental rates it is still a losing business, Bell said.

Bob Johnson, Douglas County Commissioner, had a slightly different take on the proposed increases for renting the fair buildings.

The main concern of the county commissioners was that public money covers whatever costs the rental fees do not. When a commercial group such as the Swap Meet, rents the buildings, it is being used for something other than public service. In consequence, there is an extremely high subsidized rate.

The goal of the commission is to get 50 percent of the cost back of operating and maintaining the buildings that ensures that taxpayers are not too heavily subsidizing the fairgrounds, Johnson said.

After the goal of getting back 50 percent of the costs of operating the buildings is met, minor corrections might have to be made to the rental fees if utilities were to increase or other costs associated with the buildings increased.

The goal is not to cause people not to rent, but to make sure that they are certain they need the building and will not cancel their reservation, Johnson said.

Since the article about the proposed rental increases was published in the Lawrence Journal-World on Tuesday, Johnson has not heard from the public concerning the increases.

The implementation of rental fees for the fairground buildings is a fairly recent occurrence.

“It was only about four or five years ago that the county started to charge rental fees for the buildings,” Bell said.

Before the county charged rental fees, only a small deposit was required for the use of the buildings. However, since people weren’t paying they did not have as much of an incentive to take care of the buildings and clean-up properly.

When the rental fees were implemented there was a three-month period where people were upset at the new fees and did not rent much, Bell said.

Eventually, though people started to rent again.

Even with the new proposed rates, renting the fairgrounds, “Is still the best deal in town,” Bell said.

Although both Bell and Johnson tout the benefits of increasing the rental fees for the buildings, some renters of the buildings will be affected negatively.

One such person is Rosalee Rainbolt. Recently she and other individuals created a new square dance club called Happy Time Squares Dance Club. They currently meet in Building 21.

"It is a very big problem for us," Rainbolt said of the proposed increases for renting Building 21.

Currently the club is looking into other possibilities for meeting and dancing.

Since the fees will not increase for the rest of the year if put into effect, Rainbolt and her square dancing club will continue to rent Building 21.

If the club cannot find a new location, either membership fees will be increased or fundraisers will be utilized, Rainbolt said.