For the first time, Columbia police will charge USC and the S.C. State Fair Association to direct traffic on game and fair days.

The new fees, imposed last week, will cost the State Fair about $38,000 for its 11-day run and the university's athletics department about $50,000 for its eight-game home season, police estimates show.

State Fair and USC officials said they had no warning of the new fees. The city didn't ask for their input, they add.

"That's some news we didn't need 35 days before the event," State Fair manager Gary Goodman said Thursday. "We still haven't gotten anything official."

Spokesman Kerry Tharpe said Thursday that USC's athletics department "had not had the opportunity to meet with city law enforcement" and didn't know how much the new fee might cost.

USC played its first game, a home contest with Louisiana-Lafayette, Saturday.

Columbia police Capt. Harold Reaves said the city had talked about levying the fees but had not met with the organizations recently.

"We have mentioned it in the past," he said.

Reaves said he would meet with USC athletics officials Wednesday to discuss the charges.

Between 18 and 25 Columbia officers direct traffic on Assembly Street for football games, Reaves said. During peak days at the fair, 12 officers direct traffic.

Goodman said the fee wouldn't affect fair ticket prices because they are already set.

"If we have good weather, we'll probably be OK," he said.

But, Goodman added, the new fee comes on the heels of:

• A new city "storm-water fee" that will cost the fair $15,000 annually

• A new 2 percent "hospitality tax" that will raise the price of food and drinksto fairgoers.

"The city has piled it on the businesses of Columbia - profit or nonprofit," he said. "The cost of business in Columbia has gone up dramatically because of these rulings from City Council."

FOLLOWING OR LEADING THE STATE?

Council members voted unanimously Wednesday to charge the State Fair and USC the new fees, which are $28 per officer per hour.

Mayor Bob Coble said council chose to levy the fees because of a plan by the state Highway Patrol to begin charging for its services.

"I've never wanted to do it because it might endanger the relationship with these organizations," he said. "We wouldn't be fiscally responsible if we didn't follow the state."

The Highway Patrol, however, hasn't yet made the decision to start charging. It also has warned the organizations that charges might be coming.

Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed a provision in the state budget that required the Highway Patrol to provide free services to certain events.

But S.C. Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Joan Beardsley said the agency still is studying whether to charge fees.

She said she didn't know whether a decision would be made before the fair started or football season ended.

Tharpe said USC officials had braced themselves for state charges of $135,000 a season.

But, he said, the university would not cut back on police.

"Our fans' safety and well-bring is of paramount importance," he said. "The athletics department is cognizant of the budget constraints facing all of us and is prepared to pay its fair share of the cost involved."

Richland County sheriff's deputies don't provide traffic services for either event, spokesman Lt. Joseph Pellicci said. However, off-duty deputies are paid to provide security at the fair.

POLICE: EVENTS CUT INTO CRIME PREVENTION

City Council member Hamilton Osborne, who has pushed for the city to begin charging the fees, said the move was overdue.

"I support this fully," he said. "USC charges people for admission to the football game. And everything else that goes on in that stadium is paid for.

"You have to pay to get in the fair," he said. "And, when you get in there, the principal purpose is separating the visitor from his money. Shouldn't we have been doing it all along?"

The Police Department's Reaves said organizers of other events held in the city, such as the 3 Rivers Music Festival and St. Patrick's Day in Five Points, are charged for police services.

"We are just being consistent," he said. "If we have to spend ‘.‘.‘. for special events, then it takes away from our operations to prevent crime."

Reach Wilkinson at (803) 771-8495 or jwilkinson@thestate.com.