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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks And Recreation Board - Minutes - 09/23/1987CITY OF FORT COLLINS PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MINUTES: Regular Meeting - September 23, 1987 President Cathy Mulcahy called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. Board Member Ann Schroeder called to say she could not attend the meeting. All other Board members were present. Agenda Review: No changes to the printed agenda. Election of Officers for 1987/88 Board By-laws state election of officers shall be the first item of business at the regular September meeting. Cathy Mulcahy was renominated for president by Mike ImMasche, but she declined as she has been president for the past two years. She thinks it is time for a new person to be president. Vice-president Karen Schubert was nominated to be president, John Rabun was nominated to be vice-president, and Bob Aukerman was renominated for secretary. All were unanimously elected. Minutes: The minutes of the regular meeting of August 26, 1987, were approved unanimously, as submitted. Citizen Participation: No citizen participation. Continuation of FAST Requests Discussion Staff previously distributed a follow-up report on the FAST requests as suggested by Board members at the August meeting. Jean Helburg provided a brief overview of the report. Jim Mathews and Wayne Peak of FAST were present for this discussion. Their main concern is the "building hour" approach versus the "program hour" approach. They disagree with staff and prefer their own accounting system to ours. FAST distributed their own cost sheet which they say provides their point of view. They don't agree with our fixed versus variable costs and they propose different hourly lane charges. FAST notes that they have tripled their size since the end of 1986, and if we accept their methods, the City will in fact gain more money than projected. Jeff King noted that our cost accounting system has been approved by the City Finance Department and the FAST method is unfounded and not a recognized system. Mike ImMasche asked Wayne if their group paid a salary to their coaches. Wayne said, "yes." Mike ImMasche and Bill Loy suggested that by paying their coaches (no other youth organization in town pays their coaches to the best of our knowledge) that this could potentially be an unnecessary expense. Parks and Recreation Board Minutes September 23, 1987 Page Two Wayne said a USS certified coach was necessary and it saves the City money. FAST feels that "...the City accounting scheme is being used as a bludgeon toward FAST..." Recreation Superintendent Jean Helburg noted FAST is a year-round program and the issue is how to charge them equitably for water usage. Karen Schubert asked questions regarding the membership of FAST, and Bill Loy feels the fees should be set. John Rabun stated the City actually has given FAST an extra year to pay the $4 per lane hour fee, charging only $3.50 this year. FAST wants charges of $2.50 and $4.75 rather than $4 and $6.50 that the staff recommends. Bill wants to know if a solution is as simple as a fee somewhere in between the two? Jeff King said, "no" and replied that staff was staying with its recommendation to Council regardless of what the Board does. Karen again stated she believes fees should not hurt youth groups. Bob Aukerman noted that with the way fees are going we will be dealing with these kinds of issues regularly. After further discussion, the Board, on a motion by John Rabun, seconded by Bill Loy, voted 4:3 (Mike ImMasche, Karen Schubert, and Bill Loy voting no) to support the staff's recommended fees for FAST. 1988 Recreation Fees and Charges Staff previously distributed a follow-up memo requested by the Board at the August meeting that further explains the fee structure. Jean Helburg explained the general dollars involved and the need for higher cost recovery. Most 1988 fees and charges are going up 5-to-10 percent and for 1988, we have begun distributing costs as for the various levels, however, the levels don't directly impact 1988 fees. 1988 fees are based on our need for recovery based on the total bottom line budget request. Board members questioned some specific fees for basketball, softball, etc. Bob Aukerman noted he feels the fees are good because they maintain consistency and equity across programs; however, he warned against taking a purely business approach. Jean again noted the theory of programs for public good versus private good, and said a portion of the increases are based upon "cost of living" needs with the balance necessary to achieve a set target amount. Bill Loy thinks the percent recovery has increased too much, and Mike ImMasche notes that softball will be going up $15, but our level of service quality won't change. Bob feels the public will accept higher fees if service increases or if cost of doing business increases. John Rabun thinks use will decrease if fees get too high. Cathy Mulcahy previously prepared a draft letter from the Board to Council on fees noting that the City appears to be headed toward a 100 percent recovery policy. Bill Loy and Jean Helburg pointed out that Parks and Recreation Board Minutes September 23, 1987 Page Three the one reason for increased percentage recovery has come from cuts in dollars for Recreation due to fewer General Fund dollars as a subsidy. Our choice is to either cut programs like last year or raise fees. Jerry Brown said Parks and Recreation has submitted a balanced budget to the City Manager, which he has given to Council. These fees are based on that budget and these fees will be submitted from staff no matter what the Board does tonight. H. R. Phillips noted that all departments face much the same dilemma and all our programs are valid. We must pay for these if we provide them according to Bill Loy. We need more community money. Bob Aukerman asked how we inform Council of our feelings. We can either write a letter or we can refuse to recommend the fees and charges. Board members discussed the options at great length. Jean noted that the 1988 fees and charges will recover 64 percent of the total Recreation Fund budget. Karen is concerned that if we reject the fees structure that Council and/or administration will make cuts and set fees without upping funds from the General Fund. After further discussion, the Board, on a motion by Bill Loy, seconded by Cathy Mulcahy, voted 5:2 (Karen Schubert and John Rabun voting no) to reject the 1988 Recreation Fees and Charges schedule as prepared by sta##—.-7he Board then, on a motion by Bill Loy, seconded by John Rabun, voted unanimously (7:0) to approve the following rationale for rejecting the 1988 fees and charges: Rationale We've struggled with the user fees and budget for the past three to four years, always adopting the fees based on staff recommendations. However, the time has come to question the direction that the percent recovery fee system is taking. We understand the loss of both federal revenue sharing and the transportation utility fee monies has forced the City to look for alternative ways to replace this money, but it appears to those of us who study the Parks and Recreation budget and user fees that we may in fact be pricing ourselves out of the public recreation system. We are specifically concerned with the recent rise in the percent of recreation program revenue generated from user fees. The rise from 50 percent to 64 percent represents a major divergence from the adopted Council policy of 50 percent recovery from user fees. Our Board believes that 64 percent is a publicly unacceptable level of revenue recovery from fees. Further, the 64 percent is out of line with other municipalities in the United States (25 to 30 percent average recovery from fees). Parks and Recreation Board Minutes September 23, 1987 Page Four The Parks and Recreation Board - - Endorses the concept of a balanced budget. - Recognizes the need for some fee increases for inflationary reasons. - Supports the need for increased revenue to support public recreation demands. - Recommends that the City's contribution to the Recreation Fund be increased but not solely from fees and charges. Other Business - H. R. said Nordic Construction is not interested in a park site and we are looking at other sites for a park. - Jerry distributed copies of the Ethics letter prepared by Mayor Estrada. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Bob Aukerman Board Secretary Meeting Attendance Board Members Staff Guests Karen Schubert Rick Ramirez Bob Aukerman Cathy Mulcahy John Rabun Bill Loy Mike ImMasche H. R. Phillips Jerry P. Brown Jean Helburg Jeff King Steve Budner Wayne Peak, FAST James Mathews, FAST Greg Block, Citizen CSU Students: Brian Campbell Art Hutchinson Laura Stride Felicia Quandt Ken Leinbach David Van Ceylon Sue Rooney Mari Steinbach Steve Seckinger Beth Peterson Teresa Giffin John Ziegman Robert Juhola