Saint John council has approved an updated recreation subsidization policy following a months-long review.
The policy details how recreation fees will be set for each user group using municipal recreational facilities.
Meghan Carey with RC Strategies, which was hired to undertake the review, recommended a benefits-based approach to setting fees.
“This really does focus on connecting our services and thinking about the benefits to our entire community that may be accrued, as well as when we’re seeing benefits going to the private individuals as well,” Carey told council members.
Staff began by calculating the unit costs for recreation amenities on a cost-per-hour basis in order to determine rates.
For example, the unit cost for an hourly ice arena rental is calculated by dividing the total annual expenses required to operate ice arenas by the total number of hours they are used.
Youth non-profit organizations will receive 60 per cent subsidization for regular activity, 80 per cent for tournaments and 30 per cent for fundraisers.
For adult non-profits, the subsidization rates have been set at 30 per cent for regular activity, 60 per cent for tournaments and 30 per cent for fundraisers.
For-profit organizations and casual renters will have to pay full costs, and the city will not subsidize private events for any user groups.
“This definitely gets us a lot closer to that holistic approach,” Coun. Brent Harris said following the presentation.
Previous recreation subsidization policy
Council had approved recreation subsidization policies in December 2019 which were designed to create a balance between individual user fees and taxpayer investment.
Once the policies were fully implemented, youth would have been subsidized at 40 per cent, seniors at 30 per cent, and adults at 10 per cent.
While the arena rates at full implementation were comparable with other local facilities, council asked for a review as youth rates for fields were “out of scope for the environment.”
“The hourly rate that would need to be charged on the B Level fields for youth are not comparable in nature to other local facilities and are unrealistically high for not-for-profit groups to absorb,” said a staff report at the time.
Staff said youth sports use predominantly B Level fields, which are scaled to be at a lower cost as they offer fewer amenities.
The benefits-based approach will mean similar or lower rates compared to the current approach for many user groups and facilities, including B Level fields and prime-time arena rentals.
Rates will be higher for A Level fields, for-profit rentals and non-prime-time arena rentals.
Not all councillors in favour
Councillors Gary Sullivan and Paula Radwan were the only two to vote against the updated policy.
“I don’t think adults should be getting taxpayer money to play hockey,” said Sullivan before his nay vote.
“For-profit folks should be paying a premium because there’s overhead, I am sure, that is not calculated in here that they are still receiving from the taxpayers of the City of Saint John in order to be able to use that service to make money for themselves.”
Sullivan and Radwan also raised concerns about city taxpayers subsidizing users from outside of Saint John.
City staff said as they collect more data over the next few years, they will work to get a better understanding of that issue.
Council will review the current unit costs and rate structure in three years.
