HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-03-28 - AGENDA REPORTS - RESIDENT SUBSIDY (2)Agenda Item:
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
UNFINISHED BUSINESS City Manager Approval:
Item to be presented by:
DATE: March 28, 2006
SUBJECT: RESIDENT SUBSIDY
Frank Ferry
DEPARTMENT: Parks, Recreation, and Community Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council approve implementation of a resident subsidy for Parks, Recreation, and
Community Services programs at City -developed parks and facilities.
BACKGROUND
There has been considerable discussion regarding the issue of City parks and facilities and City
programs with respect to those who benefit from them and those who subsidize them. Members
of the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission have consistently supported a
move toward a priority registration and resident subsidy structure for Parks, Recreation, and
Community Services programs. This issue has been declared as a concern of the City Council in
several workshops.
In October 2002, the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission moved to
recommend to the City Council the implementation of a priority registration and/or resident
subsidy structure. In April 2003, the City Council held a Study Session where they received a
report and held a public discussion on priority registration and non-resident fees for Parks,
Recreation, and Community Services programs. In November 2003, the City Council approved
the implementation of priority registration for City residents at City -developed parks and
facilities for impacted Parks, Recreation, and Community Services programs. Consequently, the
City currently provides priority registration to City residents in the Youth Basketball program.
There are restrictions to keep in mind as resident subsidy is discussed. These restrictions are the
Los Angeles County Quitclaim Deed clauses at Los Angeles County transferred parks. These
quitclaim restrictions were placed by Los Angeles County when the City took over maintenance
of County parks. These quitclaim restrictions prevent the City from providing preferential
treatment to residents participating in programs at Canyon Country, Newhall, North Oaks,
P„ o
Valencia Glen, Valencia Meadows, Bouquet Canyon, Old Orchard, and Santa Clarita Parks.
However, steps can be taken to provide further resident subsidy at Begonias Lane, Circle 1,
Central, Pamplico, Bridgeport, Creekview, Oak Spring Canyon, and Valencia Heritage Parks and
at the George A. Caravalho Santa Clarita Sports Complex and the Community Center. Staff has
indicated the majority of the resident subsidy would occur at Santa Clarita Sports Complex and
Central Park. The major concern expressed by both the Commission and the City Council is
ensuring that the greatest number of City residents possible have access to City Parks,
Recreation, and Community Services programs.
Current Program Usage and Agency Comparisons
A review of registration records, based on the City's RecWare database, to determine the number
of resident participants in Parks, Recreation, and Community Services programs versus the
number of non-resident participants demonstrates that since 2001, of the 350,000 registrations in
the RecWare database, 51% of the program participants were City residents; while 49% of the
program participants were non-residents.
These numbers are significant and have far-reaching impacts on the City's ability to serve our
residents and collect revenues, in that almost half of the City's programming and efforts are
directed at non-residents. Currently, each of the programs offered by the Parks, Recreation, and
Community Services Department receives budget from the General Fund budget while
recovering costs through program fees. In general, the City does not recover all program costs
and subsidizes most programs for all users.
A review of other cities has been conducted to determine if other agencies offer resident
subsidies or charge non-resident fees for their programs. The review of these cities reveals that
offering resident discounts or charging non-resident fees is a common practice. Nine out of
ten cities that Santa Clarita usually compares itself to implement some type of resident discount
or charge a non-resident fee, and out of the 17 cities that responded to the survey, 14 implement
some type of resident discount or charge a non-resident fee. Additionally, the comparison of
other cities demonstrates that these types of programs are common practice regardless of the size
of the city, ranging from small cities with a population of 10,500 to larger cities with a
population of 200,000 (see Attachment 1).
Recommendation
At the request of Councilmember Frank Ferry, staff has researched methods to employ further
steps, particularly, additional fees to recover the cost of programs provided to non-residents.
Councilmember Ferry believes cost recovery of the full cost of the program shoilld be the goal
for non-residents. While the non-residents would pay full cost, residents would be afforded a
"resident discount" and the existing subsidy of Parks, Recreation, and Community Services
programs would be maintained. In effect, the non-resident will pay full cost while the resident
discount will maintain existing fee levels for City residents who are already contributing to the
General Fund subsidy through the tax base.
Councilmember Ferry recommends this resident subsidy system be implemented in the winter
2006-07 season, this will allow enough time for planning and effective implementation. Winter
offers fewer programs and will allow staff to work through possible implementation challenges
with less impact to our customers.
Adjustments for Consumer Price Index (CPI), market condition, and program charges would
occur as part of the adoption of the City's fee schedule and a final fee schedule for this resident
subsidy system will be proposed at this time. The fee schedule is evaluated each year during the
budget process with adoption in June or July. A sample fee structure for programs is attached to
provide the Council with comparisons for the proposed and current fees (Attachment 2).
ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS
Do not institute a resident subsidy.
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - City of Santa Clarita Resident vs. Non -Resident Fee Survey Comparison of Other
Cities
Attachment 2 - Sample Resident Subsidy
Attachment 1
City of Santa Clarita
Resident vs. Non -Resident Survey
Comparison of Other Cities
Name 1 Population i Resident Fee,] Fee Amount
City of Buibank
100,316
Yes
5.00
City of Glendale
200,000
Nq -Programs
Yes'- Rentals
Varies
City of Irvine
180,000
Yes
5.00
City of Lancaster
134,000
Yes
5.00
City of Oxnard
182,027*To
Yes
3.00
City of Palmdale
116,670
Yes
5.00-25.00
City of Pasadena
133,936
Resident
Discount
10% discount
City of Simi Valley
(Rancho Simi Recreation & Park District)
135,000
No -Programs
Yes-reutals ;
25% higher for
non-residents
City of Thousand Oaks
(Conejo Recreation & Park District)
120,975
No, -;Programs
Yes -'Rentals
25% higher for
non-residents
Ventura
------------------
Arcadia
110,000
------
53,054
Programs Only',
_..—.,., .:
No
Varies
------
N/A
Claremont
36,600
Yes';(resident
discqunt)
10% increase
Monrovia
38,000
'Yes
5.00
San Dimas
35,000
Yes
Varies
San Gabriel
39,804
Yes
3.00
San Marino
12,945
Yes
Varies
West Covina
10,500
Yes
Vanes
Note: Cities in bold are identified as the 10 most comparable cities
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Attachment 2
City of Santa Clarita
Sample Resident Subsidy
Based on Current Fees and 2004 Subsidy Rates
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Resident Fee
Non -Resident
Market
PROGRAM
($)
Fee ($)
Comparisons
YMCA: $60.00/members; $100.00/non-
members (12 lessons)
Athletic Club: $14.00/group lesson
Learn to Swim
(10 half hour lessons)
45.00
80.00
(minimum 12 required for group) lessons
are 25 minues each, once a week.
$30.00 private lessons; $21.00 for semi-
private lessons
Synchronized Swim
86.00
150.00
Youth Basketball
90.00
130.00
1-9Sports: $139.00 plus $25 late
registration fee
Flag Football
89.00
130.00
19 Sports: $125.00 plus $25 late
registration fee
Soccer Center: $995.00/team including
Adult Soccer
412.00 (team)
572.00 (team)
officials ($20.00/annual membership
fee/player)
Spectrum: $80.00/member; $100.00/non-
Adult Volleyball
105.00 (team)
145.00 (team)
member (individual sign-ups only - no
teams)
Spectrum: $80.00/member; $100.00/non-
Adult Basketball
313.00 (team)
433.00 (team)
member (individual sign-ups only - no
teams)
Resident Rate
Non -Resident
Market
RENTALS
($)
Rate ($)
Comparisons
Gym
(2 hr. minimum)
218.00
418.00
Sports Fields
Castaic Sports Complex:
(without lights)
$22.00 (hour)
32.00 (hour)
Youth Groups: After 6 p.m. $15.00/hour
Adult Groups: $14.00/hour without light
Sports Fields
30.00 (hour)
45.00 (hour)
Castaic Sports Complex: Adult Groups -
(with lights)
$33.00/hour with light
Activities Center -
Hyatt: $12,000 food and beverage
Canyon Rooms
198.00
378.00
minimum
Kelly's: $2,000 room only 5/hours
Weekend (6 hr min.)
Elk's. $1,000/5hours
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