By the end of summer, most fees and charges for Salt Spring Island parks and recreation facilities will see a three to five per cent hike as local officials grapple with wages, operating costs and inflation outpacing notable rises in revenue and attendance.
Salt Spring’s Local Community Commission (LCC) approved the changes Thursday, May 14, part of a package that increases admission prices at the Rainbow Recreation Centre pool alongside bumps in the cost to rent pool facilities, fields, courts, classrooms, storage and the gym. The single-admission adult price at the Rainbow Recreation Centre pool will rise three per cent to $6.95, with youth 13 to 18 and students paying $5.20 and children five to 12 priced at $4.15. Under four “tots” will remain free.
“The goal of the process is to balance the tension between financial accountability, affordable community access to facilities and services, and market competitiveness and the realities of the marketplace,” said Salt Spring’s senior CRD manager Dan Ovington. “At a high level, we’ve seen revenues and participation in parks and recreation increase over the past year, [but] wages, operating costs and inflation have resulted in higher than expected costs.”
New this fall will be a shift in pricing structure for tennis and pickleball court bookings, which are moving from a $5 daily flat fee to hourly rates: $2.75 per hour for youth, $3.50 for adults and $4.70 per hour for commercial users.
Ovington said that recognizing cost can be a barrier for access to both facilities and programs, PARC will continue to offer the Leisure Economic Access Pass program, which provides 52 free drop-ins and subsidies for those requiring financial assistance for memberships or registered programs. CRD recreation centres also offer free access to a support person for those needing additional assistance.
The new fees and fee structures take effect Sept. 1.