COLUMBIA--Those state troopers who get you through traffic at football games and festivals in South Carolina could soon cost universities, parades and boat shows money, thanks to a budget veto by Gov. Mark Sanford.

The first-year Republican governor crossed out a section of the $5.3 billion state budget bill Wednesday that prevents the state Public Safety Department from collecting fees for working events that range from Clemson and South Carolina football games to the Golden Leaf Festival in Mullins.

"It's an invaluable service, not only to our fans, but to the other teams," South Carolina athletic spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "It's too early to say what we'd do without it." Sanford said he vetoed the measure because Public Service, which oversees the state Highway Patrol and its troopers, "should be able to assess reasonable fees for support provided to special events." Sanford spokesman Chris Drummond said Thursday the governor wasn't demanding the agency collect fees, only giving some discretion to director Boykin Rose.

"I think (Sanford) wants the agency head to have some flexibility instead of having his hands tied," Drummond said.

The budget provision had said, "The highway patrol must not charge any fee associated with special events for maintaining traffic control and ensuring safety on South Carolina public roads and highways unless approved by the General Assembly."

Such trooper traffic work typically costs the patrol about $1 million a year in manpower, agency spokeswoman Sherri Iacobelli said.

However, Col. Russell Roark, who'll take over as head of the patrol in July, says it's hard to put an accurate figure on the service because if troopers weren't near parking lots at South Carolina's Williams-Brice Stadium or Clemson's Death Valley, "they would be on the highways patrolling."

An example of the real cost, Roark says, comes from the recently concluded Atlantic Beach Biker weekend last month. Seven of the 16 regularly assigned road troopers in Clarendon and Sumter counties were assigned to the Grand Strand festival. "That left four in one county and five in the other to work the roads," he said.

Roark says 89 troopers generally work South Carolina football games, while 96 are assigned to Clemson's Memorial Stadium on game days. Those assignments are usually 10- to 12-hour shifts.

Statistics from 2000, the latest available from the Public Safety Department, showed the "personal service cost" to the agency for the 13 Clemson and South Carolina football games was $236,854.80.

Other pricey traffic jobs that year were listed as the Memorial Day Biker weekend ($47,370.96) along the Grand Strand, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway ($23,466.17) and the PGA's Heritage golf tournament ($18,894.40) on Hilton Head.

The agency stats also had troopers working at the Ninety Six Fishing Rodeo ($134.96), the Greenwood Festival of Flowers ($539.84) and the Saluda Christmas Parade ($151.83).

The Department of Public Safety will work with sister agencies to determine what, if anything, to charge, Roark said.

There is no established fee structure set up to recoup costs for traffic control.