On behalf of the Parks and Recreation Committee, I would like to ask the Town Council to defer any action on Recreation Fees as proposed in the Master Fee Schedule attached to this agenda. The reasons are as follows:
● The Parks and Recreation Committee was first made aware of the results of the consultant’s study when it was brought before the Finance Committee on Monday, May 18. At the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting the following evening, (Tuesday, May 19) we reviewed the information. We have many questions regarding the data which we feel needs to be addressed before we can begin to analyze the data, understand the impact of the proposed fee changes on our recreational users and the subsequent overall impact to the Town.
● As the advisory committee to the Town regarding Parks and Recreation, we feel it is only prudent for the Town to allow us the opportunity to understand the data and for you to hear our recommendations before any decisions are made. ● We have scheduled a meeting w/ Darcy Smith (Town Manager) and Tony McFarland (Town Finance Manager & Interim Assistant Town Manager) for Wednesday, May 27 at 3:00 to discuss our questions.
Here is a brief summary of our questions/concerns:
● Revenue: We are requesting a more detailed breakdown of the revenue of $144,200. The components that go into revenue vary greatly from community hall rentals to user fees from adult/youth soccer, little league, etc. and the revenue/fee drivers for each component can be quite different.
● Cost: We are requesting a more detailed breakdown of the costs of $430.931. This is particularly important since some of the fees that are later proposed are derived from a cost recovery model ONLY.
● New Fees: There are new fees that are proposed that we do not fully understand.
E.g. a rental fee proposed for Town Fields of $82/person/season when “it appears” to indicate that the requestor is a Town Committee. Does this mean that the Parks and Recreation Committee will be charged $82/person for Town Picnic attendees? ● Sport User Fees: It does not appear that there was adequate competitive analysis performed of the fees of adjacent communities or the impact on usage. For example, youth league fees would increase from $44 per player per season to $82 per player per season, an 86% increase. Because most other Towns use a different fee structure (hourly field rental rate), it “appears” that the consultants defaulted to proposing a cost recovery fee. The Parks and Recreation Committee has data from 2022 that shows Portola Valley fees were significantly higher than adjacent communities when translated to like for like. Why were we not consulted or asked to provide assistance to this important benchmark? It is our opinion that we risk having a negative revenue impact to the Town if users move to other lower-cost alternatives. We have already seen it happen because we have not adequately addressed the parking issue at Rossotti’s Field. We have strong relationships with the Leagues/Clubs that use our fields/courts, and we are currently reaching out to them to get competitive data.
● Court Fees: We don’t see an analysis of Court fees. Why was this not addressed? ● Special Event Fees: What is the definition of a Special Event? Is the Town Picnic a special event? This is just an example of certain fees, line items, etc that need to have clearer definition so that they are not left to interpretation and/or applied inconsistently.
● Per-Person Fees: Charging per-person fees on events like picnics, special events, etc. does not make sense. Are people really supposed to estimate their attendance ahead of time, what if there are more or fewer people? It appears other towns charge by the hour, which seems more efficient.
We urge the Council to allow the Parks and Recreation Committee additional time to work w/ the Town to arrive at a fee structure that is reasonable and competitive. We are certainly aware of the Town’s financial situation and believe that Portola Valley should charge fees that allow us to adequately recover justifiable costs. But we also do not want to run the risk of driving users away from our incredible recreational facilities. We believe that we can reach a well-grounded middle ground.
Thank you for your consideration.
Patty Dewes, Chair PV Parks and Recreation Committee and members: Karen Askey, David Bailey, Jon Myers, Steve Ericksen, Cindy Rowe, LIndsay Bowen.