Corte Madera parks staff outline budget, urge sinking fund for childcare buildings

Rochelle, a parks and recreation staff member, presented an overview of the Corte Madera Parks and Recreation Department budget at the commission’s March 24 meeting and recommended creating a sinking fund to cover replacement or major repairs of aging childcare buildings.

Rochelle told commissioners the department’s childcare program has grown rapidly: “They have 70 kids a day right now,” she said, and added that childcare “has already made the amount of money I thought they'd make for the whole year last month.” She said that growth and the age of the existing childcare buildings prompted the sinking-fund recommendation so the department would have money “in our back pocket” if it needs to buy or replace facilities.

The presentation said staff have moved facility rental revenue into its own account to improve tracking and accountability and that the department launched a new registration and accounting software on Jan. 2. Rochelle said the new system lets staff track scholarship usage, free-and-reduced rates and program-level revenues and expenses more precisely than before.

Rochelle told the commission that recent finance-department staffing changes delayed final staffing-cost numbers for the proposed budget, and she asked for patience while staff complete those calculations. She described other recent operational changes: contracting custodial services after a departure saved money and added scheduling flexibility; the department purchased a field-striping robot to improve field appearance; and staff have started fingerprinting and standard-contract procedures for seasonal coaches and instructors.

Commissioners pressed for more line-item detail. Rochelle said OpenGov and the new registration system can show revenue and expense totals for programs and that staff can produce a more detailed breakdown (for example, distinguishing supply cost from staffing) on request. She said she would provide program-by-program breakdowns and that staffing currently comprises a large share of most program budgets.

Rochelle flagged other items for future budgeting and planning: the challenge of staffing high-demand programs (noting it is difficult to hire staff who can cover afternoons when young children finish school), the difficulty of forecasting summer camp because it straddles fiscal years, and a suggestion to establish separate sinking funds for programs with variable revenues — childcare singled out as the immediate priority.

Commissioners and staff discussed soccer and other youth sports, with Rochelle and staff explaining that registration revenue reported in the department’s budget represents the town’s contracted percentage of a larger total collected by third-party or contract operators. Rochelle said coaches’ pay and certification levels are handled separately and make the budgeting for sports more complex.

Rochelle concluded by telling the commission she is confident the department will end the fiscal year in good shape but asked for more time to finalize staffing costs with finance.

The commission did not take a formal vote on budget policy at the meeting; staff will return with more detailed line-item information at a later date.