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TO: <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br /> MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />Mayor and City Council <br /> <br />Michele Bergh, Recreation Manager <br /> <br />January 20, 2004 <br /> <br />Non-Resident Fee Policy <br /> <br />Revenue totals for programming as of October 31, 2003 are $100,930. Of this, <br />approximately $5,000 has come from non-resident fees (the difference bet~veen the resident <br />and non-resident rate). As you can see this is a relatively small portion of the total revenue. <br />Administratively, this policy has always taken a great deal of time to enforce and explain. <br /> <br />We believe that if we eliminated the non-resident fee, our numbers would grow significantly <br />once the word was out; therefore, our revenues would also increase to cover the non- <br />resident fees we had been collecting. This would allow us to spend more administrative rime <br />on programming, customer service and marketing. <br /> <br />While many cities charge non-resident rates for facility use or access to community centers, <br />they don't charge non-resident rates for programming. Charging a non-resident fee makes <br />many of our programs unaffordable for non-residents, residents will choose to not sign up <br />because they want to participate with a friend who is a non-resident, and it gives the <br />impression that we don't really want them to participate. <br /> <br />Many of our programs are geared to serve large numbers of people. Leagues are better when <br />you have more teams, fitness classes are more motivating when there are a lot of people <br />attending, and it's hard to play team sports with very small teams. In many cases, fees do <br />not go up significantly when you have more participants. <br /> <br />The average home in Elk River is valued at $159,000. The Recreation Department budget is <br />approximately 5% of the overall City budget, which is approximately $37/year for the <br />average homeowner. In addition to the fee-based programming offered where a non- <br />resident fee is charged, we are also responsible for: <br /> <br />· Administering programs at the arena which totals 44% of our registrations <br />· Managing concession stands <br />· Reserving outside city facilities and Lions Park Center <br /> <br /> <br />