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Report To: General Government Committee
Date of Meeting: May 9, 2022 Report Number: CSD-011-22
Submitted By:
Reviewed By:
File Number:
Report Subject:
George Acorn, Director of Community Services
Mary-Anne Dempster, CAO Resolution#:
By-law Number:
Extension of Existing Community Services Rates and Fees
Recommendations:
1.That Report CSD-011-22 and any related communication items, be received;
2.That the existing fees as approved through report CSD-001-21 be extended for
programs and indoor facility rates, with the exception of ice, floor and indoor turf, to
December 31, 2022; and
3.That Council approve an interim increase of 1.75% to all ice, floor, and indoor turf
rates from September 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023.
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Report CSD-011-22
Report Overview
Staff have used the opportunity provided by the pandemic to review several areas of service
delivery. Staff is currently completing reviews in the areas of Facility Rentals, Camps, and
Fitness Memberships. These reviews are being conducted for various re asons outlined in
this report. The key goals are to maximize facility usage to address community demand for
multi-purpose space, align camp fees to recover costs and align with other municipal
comparators and change fitness membership rates to be more ref lective of service delivery
costs.
Part of these reviews provided an opportunity to evaluate the implementation and effective
dates of current rates. Currently, all rates, except outdoor permit fees, are effective from
September 1 to August 31 of each year. Staff is seeking consideration for an extension of
the current rates. Specifically, program and some indoor facility rates move to the same
schedule as outdoor permits, January 1 to December 31 each year. For ice, floor, and
indoor turf rates, we propose moving to a schedule of May 1 to April 30 of each year. The
difference between these service areas is related to the sports season they support;
changing fees during the peak of ice, floor and indoor turf season would pose unique
challenges to the major user groups, thereby supporting a different effective date for these
rates.
The newly proposed effective dates would require an extension of the existing rates as
previously approved by Council. The current rates are in effect until August 31, 2022.
Extensions would be required for programs and some indoor facility rates to December 31,
2022. Ice, floor, and indoor turf are proposed to see a 1.75% increase from September 1,
2022, to April 30, 2023. A full report with the new rates and changes to structures would be
proposed through the rates and fees report in September of 2022 for Council’s
consideration.
1. Background
Improvements to Rates and Fees Process
1.1 The process of rates and fees (rates) has undergone improvements over the last
number of years. In 2019, program fees were converted to a per-hour rate, providing
staff flexibility to offer varying length programs (i.e.,12 weeks vs. 8 weeks depending on
the calendar). For the most part, Facility Rates remained unchanged in structure.
1.2 Prior to 2021, rates were approved every two years. In 2021, the rate report moved to
an annual approval to provide staff with the opportunity to be more responsive to new
trends and changing landscapes. Traditionally rates have been approved from
September 1 in the year of approval to the following August 31.
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Report CSD-011-22
1.3 Outdoor permits transitioned to Community Services during this period will now be
included in future Community Services rates and fees reports, starting in September
2022. Council recently approved structural changes to outdoor sports fees, effective
January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022.
1.4 Annually, staff benchmark various municipalities to ensure proposed rates fall in line
with our comparators, industry trends, and best practices.
1.5 The pandemic provided staff an opportunity to identify areas that should be reviewed for
potential service delivery improvements, including the effective dates of rates. As a
result of those evaluations, reviews are being conducted in camps, fitness, and facilities.
As a result of the work required for these reviews, some extensions of rates are
required, as proposed in this report.
2. Rationale for Extending Current Fees
Facility Rates
2.1 Over the last number of years (prior to the pandemic) staff has seen an i ncreased
community demand for community rental space. This can be for various reasons
including social events, community meetings, special events, and community group
programming. As a result of the increased demand, Community Services is looking to
expand what spaces in current recreation facilities can be made available for booking.
This will increase facility use of underutilized space and meet the community demand
for booking requests.
2.2 To meet the expansion of bookable spaces, a restructuring of facility rates is required.
The restructuring will ensure that appropriate rates are charged for each space.
2.3 As part of the restructuring, rooms are being categorized and appropriate uses per room
are being defined. Spaces previously used solely for programming will now be available
for community use, around our planned programs. This will provide an opportunity to
maximize facility usage.
2.4 Ice, Floor, and Indoor Turf rates operate differently than indoor multi-purpose space,
mainly because of the sports season these amenities support. The major sports user
groups using these amenities often set their registration fees for the duration of the
season. Implementing a rental rate increase in the middle of their season could pose
unique challenges to those groups. As a result, staff recommends different effective
dates for rates associated with arenas and indoor turf.
2.5 Considering the changes staff are working on, the recommendation is to change the
effective date for the ice, floor, and indoor turf from September 1 to August 31 of each
year, to May 1 to April 30. With inflationary increases, staff is recommending an interim
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Report CSD-011-22
increase of 1.75% to these rates (Attachment 1). Staff will continue to assess the
operating costs in these areas and recommend any additional changes for consideration
as part of the rate report to Council in September 2022.
Camp Rates
2.6 Staff completed a benchmarking exercise comparing Clarington’s camp offerings
against other GTHA municipalities and with municipalities to the east. Upon
investigation, staff found that there were efficiencies to be found in specialty camps,
transportation, purchasing of supplies/materials, camp ratios, and staff qualifications.
2.7 To address these areas of potential efficiencies, staff have undertaken a review of the
categories for camps, and what is to be included in each category. The goal of this
exercise is to align Clarington camps with industry best practices.
2.8 Restructuring of the camp rates and definitions allows staff to align fees with the costs
for delivery of the program. The new recommendations will be included in the
September report. The currently approved fees are effective August 31, 2022, therefore
requiring an extension to December 31, 2022.
Fitness and Membership Rates
2.9 The pandemic had a significant impact on our fitness service area. Staff has been
reviewing the current structure of membership packages and evaluating the level of cost
recovery of each current membership. The pandemic saw operating hours impacted,
while costs for memberships have remained the same, creating a potential disparity that
is important for staff to address.
2.10 An area identified regularly by the customer base is the lack of clarity surrounding the
differences between the 55+ membership compared to a regular fitness member ship.
Staff is working to improve the distinction between memberships through this review
and improve the information to customers.
2.11 Benchmarking across comparable municipalities and private sector fitness providers is
part of the review. The benchmarking provides insight into industry standards and best
practices. Part of the benchmarking exercise included a survey of current fitness
members to assess what is most important to them.
2.12 The goal of the membership review is to streamline membership packages making
costs representative of the services being provided and continue to provide family-
friendly and affordable options that are easy to understand. This will maintain our
position with our residents of being seen as a family-friendly option and a viable
alternative to the private sector.
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Report CSD-011-22
2.13 The current membership rates will require an extension to December 31, 2022 , and the
new proposal will be included in the September rate report.
3. Concurrence
3.1 Not Applicable.
4. Conclusion
4.1 It is respectfully recommended that Council approve an extension of the program and
indoor facility multi-purpose rental fees to December 31, 2022. That ice, floor, and
indoor turf rates be approved with an increase of 1.75% from September 1, 2022, to
April 30, 2023.
4.2 These extensions, if approved, will enable staff to complete their reviews and include
improvement recommendations to Council in a comprehensive Community Services
Rates and Fees Report at the September Joint Committee meeting in September 2022.
Approval of these extensions/increases also positions Community Services rates and
fees to align with and inform operating budget submissions in future years. This
alignment will position services to move toward a cost-recovery model and increase the
efficiency of service delivery.
4.3 Staff will continue to be mindful of the tax supported needs for our operating costs, while
keeping access to our facilities, programs, and services affordable for the members of
our community.
Staff Contact: Lee-Ann Reck, Manager, Client Services, at 905-623-3379 ext. 2508 or
lreck@clarington.net
Attachments:
Attachment 1 - Ice, Floor, and Indoor Turf Rates September 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023
Interested Parties:
There are no interested parties to be notified of Council's decision.
Attachment 1 to Report CSD-011-22
Program
or Service Category HST
Y/N
Unit of
Measure
2021-2022
Approved
Fee
2022-2023
Proposed
Fee
HST 2022 Fee
(tax incl)
2022
over
2021 $
Change
Prime Time: Adult Yes 1 hr $217.00 $220.80 $28.70 $249.50 $3.80
Prime Time Youth Yes 1 hr $172.00 $175.01 $22.75 $197.76 $3.01
Non-Prime Time: Sept 1-June 30 Adult Yes 1 hr $163.00 $165.85 $21.56 $187.41 $2.85
Non Prime Time Sept 1 - June 30 Youth Yes 1 hr $117.00 $119.05 $15.48 $134.52 $2.05
Discount Ice-Monday-Sunday 11 pm and later Adult Yes 1 hr $125.80 $128.00 $16.64 $144.64 $2.20
Skate Patroller Per Staff Yes per hour $15.50 $15.77 $2.05 $17.82 $0.27
Non-Prime: July 1 - August 31 All Yes 1 hr $140.00 $142.45 $18.52 $160.97 $2.45
Floor Adult Yes 1 hr $87.00 $88.52 $11.51 $100.03 $1.52
Floor Youth Yes 1 hr $73.00 $74.28 $9.66 $83.93 $1.28
Exhibit Function Comm Grp Yes daily $92.10 $93.71 $12.18 $105.89 $1.61
Exhibit Function All Yes daily $112.00 $113.96 $14.81 $128.77 $1.96
Exhibit Function - Set up All Yes daily $89.30 $90.86 $11.81 $102.67 $1.56
Prime Time Adult Yes 1 hr $192.50 $195.87 $25.46 $221.33 $3.37
Prime Time Youth Yes 1 hr $158.50 $161.27 $20.97 $182.24 $2.77
Non-Prime Time Adult Yes 1 hr $158.50 $161.27 $20.97 $182.24 $2.77
Non-Prime Time Youth Yes 1 hr $115.25 $117.27 $15.24 $132.51 $2.02
Prime Time Adult Yes 1 hr $97.00 $98.70 $12.83 $111.53 $1.70
Prime Time Youth Yes 1 hr $79.25 $80.64 $10.48 $91.12 $1.39
Non-Prime Time Adult Yes 1 hr $79.25 $80.64 $10.48 $91.12 $1.39
Non-Prime Time Youth Yes 1 hr $58.00 $59.02 $7.67 $66.69 $1.02
Arena Rentals - Dry Floor
Indoor Soccer (Turf)
Community Services Department - Ice, Floor, and Indoor Turf
Schedule of Rates and Fees September 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023
Full Field
Half Field
Arena Rentals - Ice