An agreement has been reached in an ongoing dispute over money between the City of Butler Parks, Recreation Grounds, and Facilities Authority and the former owners of the Butler BlueSox.
The city authority will be paid a settlement of $17,500. The authority voted 4 to 1 on Monday to approve the settlement agreement, with board member Bob Graham dissenting.
According to chair of the city authority Cheri Readie, the authority originally maintained that they were owed more than the $17,500 agreed to in the settlement so they contracted with an attorney in February. However, the settlement amount will cover what is owed to the state in sales tax that was not paid when the BlueSox were running concessions, as well as attorney’s fees.
Readie says that is enough and the authority is ready to move on.
“We’re going to move forward and we’re really excited about everything that’s happening down at the field,” Readie said in an interview Tuesday. “Between all of the different ballgames and tournaments going on, and concerts and other events.”
This settlement agreement has already been approved by the former BlueSox owners.
The state Department of Revenue notified the authority last year that $14, 679 in sales tax from the concession stand at what was then called Kelly Automotive Park had not been paid between 2015-2017. The license to operate the concession stand was in the authority’s name, but the authority board said the BlueSox operated the stand under a rental agreement.
The BlueSox left the Prospect League at the end of the last baseball season and will no longer be playing ball in the city.