A $2 surcharge added to some high school sports tickets will no longer be levied in Fayette County.
The Board of Education voted unanimously on Dec. 16 to rescind the fee, which was implemented this year to earn revenue to offset future replacement of artificial turf fields. All five schools replaced their grass with turf in 2016-17, at a cost of approximately $500,000 per field. The board acknowledged that the surcharge would never have accumulated enough money to fully fund any replacement fields, and may have been a deterrent to higher sports attendance at a time when other athletic-related expenses, such as security and officials, are rising.
Because current ESPLOST revenue cannot be used to fund the fields, the county has instead devised a preliminary plan to set aside $100,000-$300,000 of general fund money each year until the replacements come due in approximately 2026.
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