Title
Review and Recommend Adoption of 2019 Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule.
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Recreation and Parks Commission
From: Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Re: Review and Recommend Adoption of 2019 Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule
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 (Exhibit 1) are reviewed annually by the Recreation and Park Commission with a recommendation brought forward to the City Council. The Alameda Recreation and Park Department (ARPD) reviewed its current fees and made adjustments based on its budget in combination with cost comparisons with other local jurisdictions including San Leandro, Pleasanton, Union City, and San Ramon (Exhibit 2).
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 of January 1, 2019. However, the school-year fees are noted separately with a start date of August 2019 to coincide with the start of the school year.
DISCUSSION
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 as a whole system while balancing the benefits for the community and individuals. For example, programs that are available to a broad section of the community as well as at-risk populations, such as the free Parks and Playgrounds program, free Summer Rec Baseball, Mastick Senior Center activities or Recreation Afterschool Program (RAP), have a lower cost recovery rate than programs with individual benefit to specific user groups such as facility rentals or adult sports leagues with a higher cost recovery rate to offset and balance the total budget.
As of January 1, 2019, the California minimum wage will increase from $11/hour to $12/hour. In addition, the City Council approved a minimum wage ordinance that impacts all businesses in the City of Alameda including ARPD programs. This ordinance increases the minimum wage to $13.50/hour as of July 1, 2019 and to $15 per hour on July 1, 2020. With more than 150 part-time staff, many of these positions will increase in accordance with these minimum wage increases. It also increases the wages of other existing staff that may already be above the minimum wage in order to avoid compaction. For example, if a new staff person starts at $13.50 per hour in their first year, and a more seasoned staff is already being paid $13.50 per hour then their pay rate should increase to compensate them for the experience they bring to the programs. As a result of these minimum wage increases, fees for youth programs were increased 5% or more since that is where most of the ARPD part-time staff work.
The following fees were adjusted for 2019:
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FEE TYPE |
CURRENT 2018 FEES |
PROPOSED 2019 FEES |
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CHANGES TO EXISTING FEES |
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Athletic Field Youth League - Non-Profits |
$4 / Hour |
$5 / Hour |
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This fee is being incrementally increased each year by $1 to improve cost recovery of field maintenance and supplies such as fertilizer, infield dirt, equipment maintenance and water costs. |
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Bocce Ball Courts |
Resident $10 / hour Non-Resident $30 / hour |
Resident $12 / hour Non-Resident $32 / hour |
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The Bocce Ball Courts at Lincoln Park provide two bocce ball courts as well as picnic tables. The proposed hourly fee increase remains lower than all but one of the other comparison cities (ranging from $11 - $26 / hour). |
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Live Film Shoot - Commercial |
$773 per day plus hourly facility rental |
$750 per half day and $1,250 per full day plus hourly facility rental |
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This fee was increased to be comparable to the East Bay Regional Park District and their live film shoot commercial fee for Crab Cove and Alameda Beach. |
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Large Group (75+) Event Cleaning Fee |
There is no increase in fees but the minimum number considered a large group was reduced from 150 to 75 people |
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Small Picnic Area |
Resident $31 / Hour Non-Resident $41 / Hour |
Resident $33 / Hour Non-Resident $43 / Hour |
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This is a nominal 5% increase that assists with recovering costs of ARPD’s scheduling and Park Monitors who put out reservation signs and manage trash pick-up and a clean park area. |
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Youth Programs |
5% increase: • Recreational After School Program (RAP) • World of Wonder (WOW) and Day Camp • One-Day & Break Camps • Tiny Tots 10% increase: • Teen Adventure Camp 15% increase: • Group Swim Lessons |
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The large majority of part-time staff are in ARPD Youth Programs. Increased fees help offset the increase in minimum wage as well as other rising costs for supplies and facilities. The after school and summer elementary age youth programs were increased by 5%; teen camp programs were increased 10% since it also covers increased transportation costs for summer field trips; and youth group swim lessons were increased 15% because it is well under current market rate with long waiting lists every summer. |
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Cancellation Fee |
$15 |
$15 plus all non-refundable costs |
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This is a clarification to add non-refundable costs. An example would be if a parent cancels a field trip at the last minute and the ticket was already purchased by ARPD. If another participant cannot be found to use that ticket, then the ticket cost will still be paid by the parent. |
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NEW PROPOSED FEES |
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School Picnic Fee |
n/a |
$25 / day |
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Every spring, nearly all schools (public, private and charter) have school picnics in Alameda Parks. This brings hundreds of children to parks over a short period of time to parks across the island and creates an immense amount of scheduling and clean up. This is a nominal fee intended to help offset these costs. |
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Private Fee-Based Program Fee |
n/a |
$200 / year |
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This fee is for instructors who utilize park space to hold private fee-based classes, such as a boot camp type class that may use a basketball court and open grass space. There is an increasing number of these private uses of parks and this fee will both enable ARPD to offset clean-up costs as well as to require insurance for regular use of the parks. It is comparable to the East Bay Regional Park District fee for these private classes in public spaces. |
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Active Military Personnel Discount for Facility Rentals |
n/a |
5% discount |
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As a way to honor our military personnel, especially those with the US Coast Guard who live in Alameda, ARPD is proposing a 5% discount for active military personnel for all facility rentals. |
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Public Boat Launch Facility Event Permit Fee |
n/a |
$200 / day |
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There is increasing request and demand by non-motorized paddling groups to host regattas and events that launch from the Encinal Boat Launch Facility. Once this facility is renovated then that demand is anticipated to increase. These uses bring a wonderful vibe and opportunity for residents and non-residents to access the water in Alameda. There currently is no fee for public boat ramp usage. An event fee is needed to offset the clean-up and scheduling costs. This will be available only to non-profit organizations. This fee is comparable to the East Bay Regional Park District fees. |
In 2018, a 3% one-time increase was added to most rental and program activities as a one-time increase to recover transaction fees for ActiveNet, which is a new, user-friendly registration system. Since it is a web-based system, ARPD now pays fees based on a per transaction cost rather than an annual fee and the 3% increase was to ensure that the Recreation Fund would not experience a net loss from transitioning to a new system. Staff reviewed the gross revenues and transaction fees from December 2017 through September 2018 and the transaction fees are 2.7%. This confirmed that the one-time increase added last year was on target to recover costs from the new system and did not impact resident usage of parks and programs.
The overarching goal of the Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule is to provide effective cost recovery with a balanced model of community benefit. The Recreation and Park Department continues to seek and secure additional program and facility funding through partnerships, grants, donations and fundraising events.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule changes are anticipated to generate a minimal change to the Recreation Fund 280. The proposed new and increased fees are intended to offset additional expenses as described above.
RECOMMENDATION
Review and Recommend Adoption of 2019 Recreation and Park User Fee Schedule.
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Wooldridge, Recreation and Parks Director
Exhibits:
1. 2018 Recreation and Parks Department User Fee Schedule
2. Fee Comparison of Comparable Cities