Following a 'Groundhog Day' discussion reminiscent of 2016, Council approves next round of Recreation Fees increases for next five years

Members of Prince Rupert Council have moved forward with
rate increases for Recreation in the city
(photo from past City of PR home mailer)

Prince Rupert's Mayor and all but one of the City Councillors moved ahead with a lengthy list of fee increases for Recreation Services for the next five years, with last Monday's City Council Session discussion featuring some familiar themes last found from five  years ago.

To get the debate underway to set fee increases for the next five years, the City's Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller outlined the scope of the bylaw changes for the Council members on Monday night.

"This bylaw is intended to update and bring current the existing fees and charges in recreation which will include amending family admission rates, a general increase of five percent which is standard across the board to align with costs. We have added, or the staff have added an event damage and security deposit into the bylaw which is not currently there. As well we've amended field rentals to better reflect maintenance costs"

Such was the nature of the back and forth of the discussion that it almost mirrors word for word, the same exchanges found in February of 2016 which featured a slightly different cast, but much the same tone and frustrations that accompanied the increases put in place five years ago.

For much of the review of the proposed fee changes, the majority of those Council members who spoke on the topic reinforced the need to continue to put money into maintenance provided the counter point to Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa's call for some financial relief for those residents in the community, particularly for those who may be struggling at this time and could choose to not participate should costs increase once again.

"So Like last time, so people still like with COVID, lots of people don't have jobs and people are on fixed income ... even a one dollar increase would be hard for them and so I can see like maybe we lose some members, like to use that facility even with a little increase. So I would rather like to see keep charges affordable so we can have more members can choose, instead of more money, more fees and less people So I'm not in favour of this motion  ... I think we should keep affordable pricing for everybody"  - from Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa's unsuccessful attempt to sway Council to offer some financial relief to recreation centre users in the city.

This years discussion once again spoke of not wanting to leave any children behind, as well as how the Councillors really don't like to increase fees for the services provided, but the vast majority of the Council members seemed to suggest that previous council's have for the most part left their hands tied on the issue.

The Councillor's making mention of a recreation access program designed for those in the most financial need in the community and how it works, with Ms. Miller providing the snapshot as to how the program works.

"So my suggestion would be to contact the Recreation Department. We very much separate ourselves from the process there, just to ensure complete anonymity for people applying. If you contact the rec centre they'll send you the information and a questionnaire and it's a very discreet process. At no point in time, is my understanding is anyone turned away from the using the rec complex due to financial means" -- Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller

The Corporate Administrator also observed that some of the facility users, such as Prince Rupert Minor Hockey also have their own programs to offer assistance to those who may require it.

Mayor Lee Brain also made note of the programs available for the community.

"I think the biggest message, because I remember this from last time, letting the community know that if you are in a position where it feels like there is a barrier to going to the rec complex we have a program in place for families to apply to be able to get a pass to the Rec Centre and we have funds available where we've set aside funds for that program.  I mean personally I'm not saying I'm in favour of raising anything, I hate having to raise anything. 

But in this circumstance, we gotta to keep up with the maintenance costs of this building and of this program and we already subsidize it by 2.2 million dollars, which is a 22 percent worth of taxes for that whole complex.  So I think we're doing our part by making sure the fees actually remain low and so I see a balance we have to strike and this is a balance I think is appropriate  -- Mayor Lee Brain

As the conversation moved forward through the twenty six minutes or so Council put towards it, the Councillors noted of the additional money that they have also put into the Civic Centre facility outside of that gained through the increased fees.

While users of the Recreation facilities will dig a little deeper, they may take a look at the recent Annual Report, a document which was also approved by Council on Monday, and wonder about whether a review of how Council allocates its financial generosity may be needed.

Just a few steps away from the Civic Centre Complex, the Prince Rupert Golf Course received close to $370,000 in Grant Funding for the year ending December 2020, while also benefiting from tax exemptions of over $30,000 dollars.

The data included in the financial reports portion of the city's annual report document.

The Schedule of Grants and Contributions as well as tax exemptions
available to the Prince Rupert Golf Course
as relayed from this years SOFI Report and Annual Report

One path that Council might have wanted to consider would be to reduce some of that assistance to the Golf Course and have its membership dig a little deeper into their pockets to pick up any lost financial help from the City.

Had they been looking for some common ground with Councillor Randhawa, the Council members might have wanted to explore whether those in the community who make use of the Golf Course may be somewhat more able to handle some additional financial calls, than those families making use of the city's recreation options.

Another Option that Council might have considered, could be to have used some of the Legacy Inc financial resources towards providing a break for the next few years while residents recover from the hits of COVID.

That municipal cookie jar has been used in the past for any number of Council priorities such as hiring on new staff positions at City Hall, topping up the Mayor's salary to a full time level or to launch a number of council initiatives and priorities.

The Legacy Inc. roll out  seven years ago featured a fairly comprehensive launch in 2014/15, but since that time Council has had little to share during their public council sessions about they make use of the funding and where they direct its resources towards.

This year as a short information piece included as part of the Audited Financial Statements of May 10th provided by the City notes,  $5.8 million of the $11.6 million that Legacy is said to hold will be appropriated towards the Woodworth Dam work.  

Some of the Legacy resources was also used towards some financial relief for YPR on the Airport loan.

Neither a reallocation of the Golf Course funding, nor use of Legacy funds however seemed to make it into the discussion on Recreation last Monday, with Councillor Randhawa's call for a bit of financial relief for residents over-ruled by the majority vote.

Among some of the Council commentary along the way toward the final vote on the night included:

"You know I think we had some pretty long discussions about this last time, this was five years ago when we upped the rates and the previous council's had spent, you know I think it was about ten years ago where there was no increases at the rec centre, and you know their reasoning was to keep costs low for the community because of economic factors of the time and you know there was a little bit of  opposition to increasing those rates but ... spending time in the facility you can see you know we did increase it and it hasn't decreased the usage of the facility but it's also added a lot of needed work to the facility by adding that small incremental amount ever year ... if you stay on that track of not increasing the you know the costs to use the facility nothing is going to get fixed and the place is gonna fall apart" -- Councillor Wade Niesh

"Yeah, I know it's tough,  cause the challenge is if we don't do this we're looking at tax increases to offset the costs, so it's fees and charges against tax increases ... we subsidize 75 percent of the rec centre, 25 percent is offset by fees. So essentially this is just to make sure that these 25 cent increases are to keep up with the inflation essentially of operating these building and the complex"   -- Mayor Lee Brain

For his contribution Councillor Nick Adey observed that the Recreation Centre staff must have a way to track the use of the facilities and how the council could use that data. 

"I think that what would happen is that over time those numbers would tell the story for us and if there was a clear impact on the number of users, at that point the management of the Rec Centre would say OK this is having this impact, what's the next step. So I guess, it's an issue that appeals to both sides of my nature. I'm very interested  in supporting particularly kids and their access to these facilities, but I also understand that things cost money and we have to take care of that side of it too. So I guess what I would suggest is that the middle ground might be to ensure that as these fees go into place that there is some tracking of the impact the it has. And if after the first year or the second year there is clearly an impact then we'll have to take a different tact"   -- Councillor Nick Adey

Mayor Brain observed that the data from the past shows that the demand is not going anywhere and that the facility continues to be used by the public.

Councillor Blair Mirau noted how they all agree with Councillor Randhawa to increase usage of the civic centre and other facilities and how the fees increases serve the needs of the facility.

"You know, if these fee increases were just covering the cost of inflation, then I would come to the same conclusion as you. That yeah OK, we are quite literally just nickel and dimeing people to get the same level or less service as inflation increases. But these increases that staff are recommending they've got, it goes beyond inflation, it goes into improvement of the facilities, improvement of services and expansion of services ... some of these investments are going into cost savings which we can plow operational cost savings then into enhancing programs and enhancing the facility  ... So I think the best the way for us to increase users is not to just maintain inflation but to continue improving this facility so that more people will want to access them" -- Councillor Blair Mirau

Councillor Cunningham recounted how the discussion  on the night was very much the same as that five years ago and spoke to many themes when it came to the proposed rate increases. The Councillor  noting of the programs available and how most using the facility can probably afford the increases. 

He observed how if the city doesn't increase the fees, or doesn't increase taxes then the day could come where they have to close the doors one or two days a week.

He also recalled some of the ways that the Civic Centre staff have assisted youth in the community in the past outside of some of the programs that are in place.

A theme which the corporate administrator also provides some further notes on some of the programs for youth available at the complex and what is coming up in the fall.

The Councillor made his final point by way of an explanation for Mr. Randhawa seemingly related to Mr. Randhawa's day job, noting of how a taxi company when it needs money would address the issue,  somehow seeking to compare the users of recreation facilities to those hailing a cab or riding a bus.

"Taxi fares go up! Why? Because the expenses to run a taxi go up. So it's just the law of mathematics and economics, things have to go up, whether we like it or not they have to and you know it's that simple. If we don't put up the fees, then we gotta put up taxes and everyone pays ... no one has a problem paying the extra whatever it is for a taxi fare, or a bus fare to get where they're going, and so you know if you want to get to the other end of the gym you've gotta  pay to go, it's user fee"

The full discussion from last Monday's Council Session can be reviewed from the City's Video archive starting at the one hour, nine minute mark.

How much you and your family will be paying extra to participate in the Recreation options at the Civic Centre, Earl May Aquatic Centre and Arena can be found from Monday's Council Agenda. 

From that location the twenty pages of fee schedules through to 2026 await your review at the very end of the Agenda document.

For more notes of interest from the Monday session see our Council Timeline Feature as well as our archive of themes from the meeting.

A wider overview of past council discussion themes can be reviewed here.