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NAPLES — They’ll take the money this year.

And next year too.

But the story could be different three years from now when Naples City Council has its first opportunity to opt out of a 10-year, $10 million interlocal agreement with Collier County government to subsidize the operating costs of city parks.

The city will not be locked in to the agreement for 10 years.

Council voted 6-1 to amend the agreement so the city or the county could opt out of the agreement after three years. The clause stipulates that the request to get out of the deal must come in writing 180 days before the end of the fiscal year.

The idea behind the clause was to provide a steady revenue stream for coming years while giving the city the opportunity to renegotiate a better agreement.

The original pact, which city and county staff negotiated, would have provided $10 million over 10 years beginning this month. That would have equated to $1 million a year, not taking an annual adjustment into consideration.

“Our residents pay $40 million to $50 million a year to the county, and I’ve been asked what we get back,” said Councilman Bill Willkomm, who cast the dissenting vote.

“No matter how often I put it in the calculator, I don’t come up with a fair return. Not even close. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I don’t think this is in anyway fair or equitable to the residents that I represent.”

Councilman John Sorey said last month he was concerned that the amount of money the county was offering did not compare to the number of non-city residents using the city parks.

Council initially rejected the contract but decided to reconsider it earlier this month.

Collier County Commissioner Fred Coyle, who represents Naples on the board, told council on Wednesday that it may be difficult to get a new agreement in the future if they were to take the original one off the table.

“I would urge you to find a (happy) medium here,” Coyle said. “I can promise you success from time to time, but I can not promise you success every year.”

Coyle went on to say the county is facing budget shortfalls similar to the city this year, and that it would be difficult to negotiate a new agreement each year with the state of the economy.

But Sorey, along with several other council members, said he was unable to lock the city into the annual rate, especially since the agreement stipulates the city charge a flat rate, rather than a tiered rate, for county residents to use the parks.

About 60 percent of people who use Naples’ parks live outside the city’s limits, while city residents make up about 26 percent of the users, according to a report by Community Services Director David Lykins.

The report also stated that county residents use about $1.5 million worth of the city’s services, while Naples residents use $660,000 worth of services. The estimate does not reflect the “varying level of fees charged to individuals or user groups at different facilities or ongoing operation and maintenance.”

The city would not actually see an extra $1 million either. Half of the money would be dedicated to the city’s beach fund, and the remainder would help subsidize the operating costs for the parks.

That’s still $500,000 more from the county than Naples has received in the past, said Councilwoman Penny Taylor.

“We went to the county for a reliable stream, and that’s what they gave us,” she said.