Levy Rates for Novices

[Paul Frost]

At the risk of upsetting some people...

I accept that some people think money is wasted on a variety of things (Elites, Focus, equality, etc. depending on your point of view). But assuming that the the amount of money raised in levies is required to help fund our sport, if the the levy was reduced how else would that lost money be raised?

The AGM is not far away, so if anyone has a better plan to spread the levy/tax in a fairer way and still raise the required amount of money, I'm sure people will listen.

[SJC]

But assuming that the the amount of money raised in levies is required to help fund our sport.

A very big but. Much of the funding for the sport is often quoted as coming from outisde bodies and ring fenced for specific projects - elite, development, participation, etc. What is not clearly stated is what the membership fees and levies actually pay for. Providing detailed information for the AGM might go a long way to convincing the membership that the existing fees and levies, and no doubt an increase for next year, are justified.

[pete.owens]

I think we need to keep a sense of perspective with this - and with the levy on student entries. While it is a good idea to charge lower entry fees for novice courses and students (many of whom count as juniors anyway) it is better to keep the the levy calculation simple.

The levy is a charge on the event rather than the individual and we are generally talking about about a very small proportion of the entry - certainly on the sort of event big enough to attract a levy in the first place. A handful of adults running the orange course at an event with 400 entries is hardly going to make a major dent in the proceeds.

Now it was a big issue with juniors as there are quite a number of events specifically aimed at juniors that can attract a significant entry and relatively few adults.