During a workshop Thursday evening at Lovelock City Hall, the Pershing County Recreation Board discussed possible new guidelines for distributing public recreation funds, with members emphasizing accountability and support for events that benefit the local economy.
Recreation funds, generated through local taxes and fees, help pay for community events and improvements to parks and recreation facilities across Pershing County.
Mike Mancebo estimated the recreation fund budget at around $100,000 annually, with additional funds reserved for emergency repairs.
Members grappled with how much of the recreation budget should go toward community events versus maintaining and improving county and city recreation facilities, including McDougal Park and other local parks.
Members noted that maintaining recreation facilities is essential for supporting community activities.
Connie Gottschalk suggested asking the city and county to review recreation properties and provide a list of needed repairs or improvements so the board can begin planning and saving for larger projects as part of a long-term capital improvement plan.
Board members discussed potential changes for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2026.
Gottschalk suggested distributing a written instruction guide outlining the board’s requirements with funding applications.
Lee Ann Gallagher proposed that the board gather more information from applicants about their other funding sources, estimated attendance and whether events take place on county or city property. She also questioned how the board verifies that organizations spend recreation funds as promised.
“We open ourselves up to abuse if we are just giving them a check for $10,000 and we don’t get any receipts back,” Gallagher said. “We have no protection or way to know that they actually used it for what they said they were going to use it for. I’m spending other people’s tax money, so that’s a concern to me.”
Members discussed requiring organizations to provide itemized budgets and receipts. They also want applicants to provide financial reports showing what they brought in, what they spent and how they plan to fund their event in the future.
Mancebo said organizations should eventually become financially independent rather than relying indefinitely on county funding.
One proposal would fund 100 percent of an event’s request in its first year, 75 percent in the second year and 50 percent in the third year, with the expectation that organizations would eventually become self-supporting.
Gottschalk said the board should distinguish between events that generate revenue and those that provide recreational opportunities without turning a profit.
“These are two different categories,” Gottschalk said, noting some groups are not trying to make a profit but focus on providing activities for residents and visitors.
Members also discussed whether funding should prioritize events that attract visitors and benefit local businesses.
“There are some functions that put heads in beds,” Mancebo said, referring to events that bring visitors who stay in local hotels, shop in stores and eat at restaurants.
They also discussed capping funding for one-day versus multi-day events and whether to limit how often organizations can receive large amounts of recreation funding over several years.
The board also discussed the importance of reserve funds for major expenses. In the past, these have paid for big-ticket items such as a new filtration system for the community pool without dipping into the budget.
The recreation board consists of Jordan McKinney, Lee Ann Gallagher, Connie Gottschalk, Michael Mancebo and Doris Bridges. Terri Wilcox serves as board secretary.
They plan to continue developing formal guidelines for recreation funding at future workshops.
In other business during the regular meeting that followed, the board approved several recreation funding requests from local organizations.
The largest approvals included $24,150 for the Ranch Rodeo/JR Rodeo Association to replace a heading box and the back end of the small arena and $10,850 for the Lovelock Speedway, representing the remaining balance of its $21,350 funding request.
The board also approved $10,000 for the Lovelock Ranch Rodeo and $8,000 for the Lovelock Jr. Rodeo to help cover cattle charges, buckles and bucking stock.
Additional funding included $3,000 for the 4-H Livestock Program for awards, $5,000 for Lovelock Street Fever for T-shirts, trophies and advertising, $1,500 for the Mustang 5K Fun Run and $1,500 for a Flag Football Tournament.
The board also approved $10,000 for Music & Murals, an economic development project. The funding will support advertising and festival activities tied to a mural-painting event in Lovelock.
The members scheduled another workshop for 5 p.m. April 2 at City Hall. The regular meeting will follow at 5:30 p.m.
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