City parks and recreation fees are going up.
At its regular meeting March 13, Council heard from Darcy McLeod, director of community development, parks and recreation regarding proposed increases for 2017.
McLeod noted in the past, the City has increased fees on a three-year cycle, which while providing predictability for community groups, but also resulted in periodic large bumps that were harder to absorb.
He presented a new rationale, which would see smaller incremental changes annually, giving facilities more stability and making increases easier to stomach for the public.
Administration used three per cent as a baseline because that is generally equivalent to inflationary costs of the City’s facilities and programs.
They also base it on comparisons with other cities such as Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Estevan, Weyburn and Swift Current.
“We try to keep in the middle of the pack with other cities and municipalities of our size with similar services and we typically end up there every year,” McLeod explained, noting this has been the traditional direction Council has given.
Most of the increases fall in the percentage range, but there are exceptions. Most of these are because the fees are very low, such as walking at Gloria Hayden, which by going from $2 to $3 looks like a large jump at 33 per cent, but will likely not go up again for several year.
Some others—such as ice time at the Kinsmen Arena, which is going up by approximately 10 per cent—are to bring fees in line with cost recovery.
“It’s generally because we are falling down when it comes to our cost recovery of our facilities or we are at the low end of facilities costs compared to other municipalities or other service providers,” McLeod explained. “Sometimes that might mean we have to go a little higher than the three per cent to catch up a bit, then we level off for the next couple of years.”
The City does not have an official cost recovery policy, but McLeod said they try to target around 65 per cent. Some facilities do better than others.
Deer Park Golf Club does the best with an 89 per cent cost recovery in 2016, which is about average.
McLeod said they try to strike a balance with the golf course between business and community amenity.
In a separate report, he also recommended fee increases for Deer Park.
Golf fees all generally stayed below the three per cent and the junior pass remained unchanged at $100. Mayor Bob Maloney called that and “incredible deal.” The provincial average is $261 for a junior pass.
Councillor Ken Chyz said he appreciated that Yorkton fees, in general, are very competitive.
McLeod said one of the greatest features of Deer Park is the family option. With an adult pass at $1,195, golfers can buy a spousal pass for $720 and children play for free.
Council passed the fee changes unanimously. Golf passes are now available and the City will be running its annual lottery, which gives early birds a chance to win their 2017 fees if they buy their pass by April 30.
