During a budget meeting last Thursday, town commissioners instructed Finance Director Butch Kay and Town Manager David Bone to review the fee structure for players who live outside the town limits.

If commissioners adopt the pay structure they discussed last week, it could cost as much as $100 for a child between the ages of 7 and 14 who lives outside the town limits to play ball in Wendell.

Currently out-of-town children pay $50 to play in the Wendell league.

Commissioner Sid Baynes said the fee structure recommended by Kay and Bone subsidizes the cost for out-of-town residents on the backs of taxpayers within the town limts.

The fee structure Bone and Kay proposed followed the recommendation of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee.

That group recommended more modest fee increases of $5 to $15. The largest out-of-town fee under that proposal would be $65 for out-of-towners playing in the 13-14-year-old league. Out-of-town residents already pay more to play in the local recreation league than their in-town teammates.

The proposal didn’t sit well with some parents who may have to pay the higher fee.

Scott Hawke, who coaches in the Wendell recreation league and has two children who play in Wendell, said the higher fees may force some parents to take their children to neighboring towns to play.

Hawke, who is also a member of the town’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, said the current structure keeps Wendell competitive with other towns and offers young athletes a better program.

“We’ve had a good run and a lot of success. A lot of out-of-town kids want to play here. If you raise the registration fees to an extremely high level they will just go elsewhere. We won’t have so many kids coming in at the 6-, 7- and 8-year-old level. All the success we’ve had will start to deteriorate,” Hawke said.

Commissioner Sid Baynes, who suggested reviewing the fee structure, said he would like to see the programs pay for themselves eventually, or at least come close to it.

Commissioner Bill Connolly said the town could raise the rates, but he said people won’t like it.

“We’ll catch some flack for doing this,” Connolly said.

Ronnie Mizell has coached in the Wendell program for the past seven or eight years.

The father of three Wendell recreation league athletes, Mizell could face a $300 bill to suit his children up next season because he also lives outside the town limits.

Mizell said he understands the commissioners desire to adjust the gap between in-town and out-of-town players, but he said commissioners need to listen to their staff.

“(Wendell Parks and Recreation Director) Brinkley Wagstaff has done a lot for this program and he’s really made it a good one. If he thinks the rates ought to stay where they are, I’d certainly support that. He’s the man running the show,” Mizell said.

Baynes disagreed, telling commissioners during last Thursday’s budget session that commissioners don’t need to follow the advice of advisory committees if they don’t want to.

Commissioners haven’t made any final decisions on the town’s budget. A public hearing on the budget was delayed until June to give staff time to make more adjustments.

Town staff will report on the budget to commissioners again prior to the May 27 work session when the budget will be formally presented.