By Doug Courtney
On May 15 the Flagler County School Board voted to leave operations at Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club open to the public for another year–through next August. The vote included a directive to the administration to work with the members of the advisory committee, the board, and the administration to reduce the operating deficit.
The administration was also encouraged to implement proposals that would enhance the facility. The administration met frequently with the board, the advisory committee, and individual members, crafting a plan they and others believed would significantly reduce if not eliminate the deficit while keeping the facility open to the public.
Included in this plan was a restructuring of annual fees to capture new revenue from previously underutilized resources and to competitively work to gain new members while increasing revenue streams. The plan was debated, vetted, reorganized, vetted again and finally adopted with strong approval from all participants. It was presented to the board for consensus to move forward at the June board meeting with high expectations of acceptance. The administration had done its job and completed the task assigned to it in record time.
At that June meeting, however, School Board member Will Furry strongly disapproved of the new rate structure and demanded it be redone. Apparently due to a personal belief unmoored to any study or research, he insisted that the membership fees in the new rate structure were too low and did not adequately recover sufficient funds from current members, particularly those with insurance coverage.
Furry demanded and got the administration to create a new rate schedule based upon his “gut” and beliefs. That rate schedule was presented at the July 11 school board workshop.
The new rate structure was ludicrous.
It created 15 levels of memberships while restricting access to many areas of the facility to current members. The rate structure relied heavily on attaching new membership rates on insurance plan members that would force them to personally pay for membership usage above the fees paid for by their insurance carriers.
Read Related Also: Plea Deal Reached In Murders Of Teen Black Lives Matter Activist And 75-Year-Old
These new insurance rates resulted in memberships that are exponentially more expensive than a basic membership. The new rates were required even though they violated contractual requirements of their insurance carriers and contracts with the schools. The new rate structure also raised basic adult memberships by 40 percent, on top of the two rate increases that went in effect in the last 10 months.
In addition, Mr. Furry has strongly debated against allowing Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club to receive credit for revenues received outside of membership rates. Belle Terre hosts and produces many classes and programs unique to a swimming environment. Included are Synchro Belles, adult aqua exercise, and independent swim teams. These programs generate more than $75,000 a year. Yet while the programs use the club and the club must bear the cost for their use, the club, through a quirk in accounting, does not get revenue credit for the programs.
When School Board members moved to correct the oversight, Furry stood defiantly against the change, insisting that Belle Terre must stand on its own.
At Tuesday evening’s 6 p.m. regular board meeting, Furry is asking that his plan for the rate increase and use of revenue be adopted. The following videos are our comments in opposition to Furry’s proposed plans. Please take a moment to review.
Doug Courtney is a long-time resident of Palm Coast and member of the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club’s advisory committee. See his previous article on the subject, “Belle Terre Swim Club’s Finances Are Not as Dire as Projected.”
