Revisions to Pool Fee Schedule Issued by Staff
The Recreation Department staff has published a newly revised proposed pool fee schedule for consideration by the Recreation Commission on May 18. Daily rates would be limited to non-holiday Monday – Thursday from 8am -3pm. The proposal has simplified the overall rate structure. It includes:
- Same resident and non-resident daily rates for children and youth (age 12 to 17).
- Seasonal pass at less than one-half the cost of an annual pass for individual adults and seniors (over 65).
- Slight discount (11%-25%) for seasonal, annual passes, and adult daily rates for residents compared to non-residents.
- Guest privileges and weekend/holiday swimming for seasonal and annual passes.
Under the prior fee schedule (see p. 5.), staff estimated operating pool costs would be paid $380,000 by taxpayers and $375,000 by users, resulting in a 50% taxpayer subsidy of pool cost. (See Aquatics budget.) A revised budget estimate for the new proposed fee structure has not been provided. The specific assumptions regarding pass sales and numbers of users underlying the 2 fee schedules have not yet been made public by staff or reviewed by the Recreation Commission.
I am struggling to understand why the City Council decided to terminate the Piedmont Swim Club lease. As a PSC member, I paid $825 for year-round access to the pool, though we probably went a maximum of ten times a year in the summer. Under the PSC lease, PSC paid for all of the lifeguards, maintenance and upkeep of the pool–at no cost to the City. Any Piedmont resident could join–and PSC had asked for the right to sell memberships to non-residents to raise money. As I understood it, the City refused to renew the PSC lease because of concerns about City liability and an inability to pay rent to the City.
Now the City plans to run the pool (taking on all liability), charge $850 for a family annual pass (more than Piedmont residents paid before), allow non-residents access (which the City would not let PSC do), and still have taxpayers pay over $350K for those who like to swim to have use of the pool. I just don’t see how this benefits the City or its residents. I hope the City Council can explain their thinking more clearly.