A budget squeeze at the Douglas County Courthouse means no more free ride for organizers of this summer’s Lawrence Memorial Hospital Triathlon.

And supporters of other events such as the Vinland Fair, Douglas County 4-H Free Fair and football games at Kansas University and area high schools could one day be asked to pay extra for traffic-control services provided by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department, Douglas County commissioners decided Monday.

A heat of short-course triathletes splashes its way past the starting buoy at Lone Star Lake during last year's Lawrence Memorial Triathlon. County commissioners decided Monday to charge the LMH Triathlon's event planners for the Douglas County Sheriff's Department's services during this year's competition Sept. 15. The department has provided traffic and crowd control services at the event for free for the past 16 competitions.

Faced with dwindling revenues and escalating costs, commissioners agreed Monday to charge Lawrence-based Alta-Sport Corp. an estimated $920 to cover overtime costs associated with the Sept. 15 triathlon.

The company expects about 500 competitors and about 500 spectators for the triathlon at Lone Star Lake, and sheriff’s deputies will be dispatched to intersections on the race course to divert traffic and handle unruly drivers.

Such services had been free to event organizers during the first 16 triathlons, but an expected $200,000 drop in the sheriff’s 2003 overtime budget is forcing officials to rethink their commitment.

“Budget constraints being what they are, we really do have to look at doing everything we can to keep the sheriff’s budget whole,” Commissioner Bob Johnson said.

But the decision didn’t sit well with Jim Whittaker or Mike Vickers, who own Alta-Sport and contend that the money generated by the event particularly through taxes generated on sales of gasoline, food, hotel rooms and the like should more than cover the traffic-control costs.

Sheriff Rick Trapp indicated he wouldn’t be interested in charging non-profit organizers of events, nor the folks behind area high school football games.

“Certainly the schools are not in a position to pay for all those things,” Trapp told commissioners.

But neither is Alta-Sport, Whittaker said. Insurance costs already have jumped to $7 per competitor, up from $2 a few years ago, and the traffic-control expenses can be expected to add another $2 to $3 to each entry fee.

“If they charged us $1,000 17 years ago, we wouldn’t even be here today,” said Whittaker, who serves as race director. “We just hope we’re treated with equity in terms of other events.”

But commissioners have their eyes on other events, too. While last year’s triathlon required 20 hours of overtime for deputies, last year’s county fair required 735.

Controlling the parking lot at the fairgrounds alone was a $10,000 job, Trapp said, and Commissioner Charles Jones figures that money could be better spent elsewhere.

“Spending $35 a hour to essentially have someone stand there seems to be a little excessive,” Jones said. “That probably could easily be handled by volunteers.”

Commissioners decided against setting a formal policy for security payments, but instead agreed to revisit the issue during budget-formation meetings this summer.