Sam Gandy lifts weights at the Newport Recreation Center on Thursday. Gandy and other users would pay significantly more to use the center if the Newport City Council adopts a proposed fee increase. (Photo by Larry Coonrod)

Adult annual pool pass could increase from $107 to $450



The Newport Parks and Recreation Department is asking the Newport City Council to approve a business plan that calls for a significant increase in usage fees for the recreation center and pool.

The city’s budget committee voted in May for the parks department to present a business plan showing how it could reduce the need for subsidy funding during budgeting talks earlier this year.

The proposed recreation center fee increases range from 25 percent in daily passes to a 95-percent increase in youth three-month passes. The cost of annual passes would rise between 28.5 and 50 percent, depending on age. Users of the Newport Pool would pay - again based on age - between $34 and $62 more for three-month swim passes and between $146 and $343 more for annual usage.

The three month and annual pass rate increase was based on a formula that multiplied the daily use fee by the number of days a pass holder could be expected to use the center and the ability of an age group to pay. The cost per visit would, of course, decrease if a pass holder used the center more frequently.

There are currently 577 recreation center annual pass holders. The business plan calls for selling 30 more annual passes in six months to raise $15,000. Newport Parks and Recreation Director Jim Protiva said he hopes to eventually raise the number of annual passes to around 700.

The city council temporarily suspended the sale of annual passes on Monday, in part to head off a rush to buy the year-long passes before the price goes up.

City councilors will discuss the fee increase and the rest of the business plan at their Dec. 7 meeting. The council has the final say on how much, if any, to raise fees. Protiva said he hopes to enact the new fee structure in early 2010.

The Park and Recreation Department’s budget was slashed by $217,000 this year. As a result, staffing was cut by 114 hours a week. Protiva said the recreation center recorded about 300,000 visits last year.

The increased fees will still leave the department short about $50,000 this fiscal year, money Protiva expects the city to make up as part of a deal reached during budget talks earlier this year.

“Through discussion with the budget committee, they said they’d place a certain amount of money in contingency pending the outcome of a business plan,” Protiva said. “They wanted us to identify how we were going to help solve the budget shortfall and then come back and ask them for the balance.”

Protiva said if the money isn’t available in the general fund, another option for the council to bridge the shortfall is the transient room tax fund, part of which is allocated to fund tourism promotion.

The parks department draws people to the coast by sponsoring a number of baseball, basketball and swim meets.

“Recreation brings a lot of tournaments to town,” Protiva said. “We bring in hundreds of families and kids. Everyone benefits, the gas stations, the hotels, the restaurants.”

Even if increased fee revenue meets the new business plan’s forecast, the Parks and Recreation Department would still need over $900,000 in annual subsidies from the city.

A key component of the NPRD business plan is an increase in marketing and fundraising. One fundraising event under consideration is a triathlon consisting of a run, off-road biking and a swimming event in Olalla Lake. The parks department is also proposing a 25- to 30-percent increase in rental fees for special events held at the recreation center.

The establishment of a nonprofit Friends of the Recreation Group is currently underway to help with fundraising.

The complete Newport Parks and Recreation business plan is available on Newport’s homepage at www.thecityofnewport.net.



Larry Coonrod can be reached at 265-8571 ext 211 or larry@newportnewstimes.com



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