Recreation Manager Bluffin told the Community Services Commission on Oct. 8 that the department’s 2024–25 cost recovery rate was 62%, driven mainly by facility rentals and recreation programming.

The 62% figure, Bluffin said, compares with a city council target of 27% and sits well above typical community services recovery rates she cited in other California cities. “For this year, for 2425 fiscal year, our community services had a 62% cost recovery,” Bluffin said. “So we're way, way above where we should be.”

Why it matters: commissioners said higher cost recovery helps preserve programming and keep the department financially healthy while still offering services that are not expected to generate revenue, such as senior and special‑needs programs. Commissioner Jones called the 62% result “outstanding,” and asked staff to provide final year‑end numbers in the next report.

Most revenue came from room and facility rentals at the community center and performing arts center and from sports‑park field rentals and tournament fees, Bluffin said. She told the commission that some program areas — notably special‑needs programming and senior services — are not expected to be significant revenue sources. “At the end of the day, city in general, community services in particular, we're not about making revenue. We're about offering services,” Bluffin said.

Bluffin and commissioners clarified that the department’s published recovery rate does not include field and facility maintenance expenses, because those costs are recorded in the Public Works budget. Bluffin described maintenance for heavily used fields as a large uncounted expense and listed water, electricity and contract fees as typical maintenance costs. “One of the things that does get left out of our expenses in regards to fields and facilities is the maintenance,” she told the commission. “The expenditures for maintenance of the fields as well as any of the facilities that's all housed in public works.”

Commissioners asked for more granular information. Commissioner Fuentes asked whether specific programs impose higher costs; Bluffin replied that field use is among the costliest program areas because of wear‑and‑tear and ongoing maintenance needs. Commissioners and staff also discussed variability in revenue estimates: classes and rentals can exceed or fall short of projections, Bluffin said, while tournament dates and other one‑off items are easier to forecast.

Bluffin said bookings are strong going forward: rooms at the community center and the civic clubhouse have continuing weekend bookings and staff have reservations through June 2026. She said the next citywide fee study is expected at the end of next year or the year after, and that council could ask departments to raise cost‑recovery targets (she estimated the council might increase the guideline to “maybe 30%, maybe 35%” when next updated).

Discussion versus action: the commission received the report and asked follow‑up questions; no formal action or policy change was taken at the meeting. Bluffin said she will bring year‑end numbers and further details to a future meeting.

Looking ahead: commissioners requested the department return with final year‑end revenue figures and more detailed breakdowns of high‑cost programs, and staff said they will include those details in the next report.