Saugus user fees to go up

SAUGUS-Life just got a little more expensive for athletes at the Belmonte Middle School, after the School Committee voted to increase middle school user fees to $150 per sport.The new fee is a $100 increase from the $50 fee students were charged for one sport. They were charged $75 for two sports.Committee member William Leuci, who made the motion, said he personally didn’t want to increase the fees, but he felt the committee had no choice.”I’m sorry about it, but it’s the only way to go,” he said.Athletic fees became an issue when Finance Manager Richard Weeks announced in February that the School Department’s athletic account was on the road to a $46,000 shortfall. The shortfall, according to committee member Christine Wilson is largely due to the fact that user fees at the high school were raised last year, but middle school fees were not. In fact, the fees at the middle school have not been raised since 2003.”We didn’t raise fees at the middle school level so money has been coming out of the high school,” she said.Committee member Wendy Reed asked if the increase would cover any future deficits and Wilson said she hoped so.”The athletic subcommittee is also looking at ways to raise revenue so we don’t have to keep raising fees,” she added.Reed also asked about the status of the high school hockey program, since the Kasabuski Arena is about to fall under new management. Reed suggested the committee send a letter to the Board of Selectmen urging it to keep the School Department in mind when it signs the contract that hands the rink over to the Kasabuski Partnership of Lynnfield.Wilson said it was made clear to the town that if the rink was privatized and ice time for the high school hockey team was increased, there would be problems.”We won’t be able to do a hockey program without huge user fees,” she said.