No big surprise that the Hutchinson City Council Tuesday approved the plan where the Hutchinson Recreation Commission would move from under the umbrella of the Hutchinson School District and under the umbrella of the city.

Nothing changes as far as how they will operate They will remain an independent entity, but taxes for them will now be collected by the city and then disbursed to them. It also means that the rec commissions tax base will cover the entire city, as opposed to just the Hutchinson school district.

Councilman Bob Bush asked during the discussion if the rec commission employees would become city employees and was told “no”, they would not.

Both the city and Hutchinson School District have been working on this issue for more then a year and held a number of public meetings to discuss the different options available to them including the possibility of the Rec Commission becoming a city department and run by the city. Local citizens made it known, they didn’t want that to happen.

The new taxing area will mean a slight increase in taxes for those who live outside the boundaries of the school district and a slight decrease for those who live within the district.