Title
Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of Resolution Amending Master Fee Resolution 12191 to Add and Revise Recreation and Park Fees. (Recreation 5191)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Interim City Manager
Re: Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of Resolution Amending Master Fee Resolution 12191 to Add and Revise Recreation and Park Fees
BACKGROUND
On January 22, 1992, the City Council adopted Resolution Number 12191, codifying all fees for services into a City-wide fee schedule (Schedule). This Schedule is updated each year, via resolution, to reflect changes in the cost of providing services as well as in the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Recreation and Park User Fees are reviewed annually by the Recreation and Park Commission with a recommendation brought forward to the City Council. The Recreation Commission reviewed and recommended the 2016 Master Park Fee on October 8, 2015. The Alameda Recreation and Park Department (ARPD) reviewed its current fees and made adjustments based on existing conditions in combination with cost comparisons with other local jurisdictions including San Leandro, Pleasanton, Union City, and San Ramon (Exhibit 2).
DISCUSSION
The City’s Schedule is updated annually as part of the City budget process, which has a start date of July 1st. Due to the timing of summer recreation programs, the Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule (Exhibit 1) is adopted earlier, with the implementation date being January 1, 2016. However, the school-year fees are noted separately with a start date of August 2016 to coincide with the start of the school year.
Fees represent direct costs for program staff time, facility maintenance and utilities, plus indirect costs for administrative staff time and supplies. Fees are intended to recover costs while balancing the benefits for the community and individuals. For example, programs that are available to a broad section of the community, such as the free Parks and Playgrounds program or Recreation Afterschool Program (RAP), have a lower cost recovery rate than programs with individual benefit to specific user groups such as adult softball.
The following fees were adjusted for 2016:
|
Fee Type |
Proposed Fee |
Previous Fee |
|
Athletic Field Youth Leagues (less than 75% Resident) |
$5 / hour |
$3 / hour |
|
Multi-Use Synthetic Field Youth Organization (75% Residents) |
$35 / hour |
New Fee |
|
Multi-Use Synthetic Field Youth Organization (< 75% Residents) |
$50 / hour |
New Fee |
|
Multi-Use Synthetic Field - Residents |
$60 / hour |
New Fee |
|
Multi-Use Synthetic Field Non-Residents |
$70 / hour |
New Fee |
|
Multi-Use Synthetic Field - Non-Profits / School Enrichment |
$50 / hour |
New Fee |
|
Bocce Ball Courts |
3 hour minimum |
2 hour minimum |
|
Tiny Tots - Program Fees |
$6.26 / hour |
$5.85 / hour |
|
Tiny Tots - Parent/Child Group |
$4.16-$6-16 |
$3.75-$5.75 |
|
RAP - (per session) 5 days/week |
$599 - $649 |
$581- $630 |
|
RAP - (per session) 3 days/week |
$395 - $429 |
$383- $416 |
|
RAP - (per session) 2 days/week |
$281 - $304 |
$272 - $295 |
|
Kindergarten RAP - (per session) 5 days/week |
$754 - $818 |
$732- $794 |
|
Kindergarten RAP - (per session) 3 days/week |
$482 - $524 |
$468- $508 |
|
Kindergarten RAP - (per session) 2 days/week |
$334 - $363 |
$324 - $352 |
|
WOW - Summer Camp 5 day/week |
$185 R / $204 NR |
$179 R / $197 NR |
|
WOW - Summer Camp 4 day/week |
$152 R / $168 NR |
$147 R / 162 NR |
|
WOW - Summer Camp 3 day/week |
$126 R / $139 NR |
$122 R / $134 NR |
|
Day Camp - Hidden Cove (per week) |
$160 R / $175 NR |
$152 R / $167 NR |
|
Day Camp - Hidden Cove (4 day week) |
$128 R / $141 NR |
New fee |
|
Day Camp - Trails End/ Trail Blazers (per week) |
$177 R / $195 NR |
$168 R / $185 NR |
|
Break Camps - Resident |
$116 - $158 /week |
$110 - $150 /week |
|
Break Camps - Non-Resident |
$133 - $174/week |
$121 - $165 /week |
|
Teen/Tween- Adventure Camp-Resident |
$190 - $320 /week |
$180 - $265 /week |
|
Teen/Tween - Adventure Camp - Non-Resident |
$209 - $352 /week |
$198 - $292 /week |
|
Santa’s Visit |
$40/visit |
$35/visit |
|
Breakfast with Santa |
$18 Adults/ $10 Children |
$15 Adults/ $8 Children |
|
One-Day Camps/Workshops |
$60-$100 per youth/day |
$50-$75 per youth/day |
The resident definition for field use is 75% or more Alameda residents on the league’s roster. The non-resident definition is less than 75% Alameda residents.
The overarching goal of the Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule is to provide more effective cost recovery with a balanced model of community benefit. As of January 1, 2016 the State of California minimum wage is increasing from $9/hour to $10/hour. This impacts all of the ARPD youth programs that utilize part-time recreation leaders. Subsequently, in order to maintain the current level of cost recovery, all Tiny Tot, youth, and teen program fees were increased by 3% - 5%. While this is an across the board increase, the fees remain similar or lower than the comparison cities and most Alameda-based programs.
The Bocce Ball courts are proposed to change from a two hour minimum to a three hour minimum, similar to all other ARPD facilities, for coordination consistency.
The field use fee for non-Alameda based youth organizations was increased in order to better balance the expense to manage and maintain athletic fields, including staff time for maintenance and scheduling, supplies such as fertilizer, infield dirt, equipment maintenance for mowers, and water costs. The youth athletic organizations were all informed of the proposed change at the fall field scheduling meeting, hosted by ARPD. These same groups were also specifically informed of and invited to the Recreation and Parks Commission meeting at which the proposed field fees were discussed. At the October 8, 2015 Recreation and Park Commission meeting, staff recommended the Alameda resident youth league field use fee be increased from $2.00 to $4.00 per hour. However the Recreation and Park Commission recommended to not increase the resident youth league fee. Subsequently, the proposed resident youth league field fee proposed to Council remains the same as the previous year and only the non-resident youth league field use fee is proposed to be increased.
Additionally, a new fee was included for the multi-use, rectangular lighted synthetic turf field at Estuary Park. This is considered a high-end field, primarily for game use. It is standard practice in the recreation industry to charge a higher fee for synthetic fields than grass turf fields since it’s a higher quality playing experience. All Alameda youth leagues have been informed of this proposed higher fee at the regular field scheduling meetings and have expressed no concerns. Similar to all other fields, the use of lights is an additional fee to cover the electrical and maintenance costs of field lights. For the Challenger Field, which is a baseball and soccer synthetic field prioritized for youth and adults with developmental and physical challenges, ARPD will charge the standard field use fee of $2/hour for Alameda based youth leagues and $5/hour for non-Alameda based youth leagues. The Estuary Park fields are anticipated to open at the end of 2016 with an annual maintenance budget of approximately $95,000 once the entire 8-acre park is fully built out.
ARPD eliminated the adult league charges due to the fact that these adult league fees are rarely utilized and will be combined into resident/non-resident fees for accounting simplicity. ARPD also eliminated the non-profit and school field rate and are combining those requests within the resident or non-resident youth organization rate of $2/hour. This reclassification will allow non-profits and school enrichment programs a reduced rate and helps ARPD simplify the accounting procedures.
The Recreation and Parks Department continues to seek and secure additional program and facility funding through partnerships, grants, donations and fundraising events.
At the Recreation and Parks Commission regular meeting on October 8, 2015 the Commission reviewed and recommended the proposed 2016 Recreation and Parks User Fee Schedule, with an amendment to maintain the Youth Organization - Resident Field Use Fee at $2 / hour.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule changes are anticipated to generate additional revenue to the Recreation Fund 280 to offset additional expenses as described above.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action does not affect the Alameda Municipal Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is not a project and is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15378(b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines, because it involves governmental fiscal activities (revising recreation and park fees), which does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment.
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution amending Master Fee Resolution 12191 to add and revise Recreation and Park Fees.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Wooldridge, Interim Assistant City Manager
By,
Patrick Russi, Interim Recreation Services Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. 2016 Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule
2. User Fee Comparisons with Other Jurisdictions