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Council approves new community facility rental schedule, gives parks staff broader pricing flexibility
Summary
After lengthy debate about rates, discounts and market strategy, the council adopted an updated rental fee schedule for community facilities and granted parks staff authority to vary published rates within limits to maximize occupancy and revenue.
FOLSOM, Calif. — The City Council voted July 8 to adopt an updated community facility rental fee schedule and to give Parks & Recreation staff more flexibility to adjust published rates to increase usage and revenue.
Why it matters: The council approved a revised fee structure that raises peak (Friday–Saturday) rates for several indoor facilities while holding some nonpeak rates steady; it also authorized a mechanism for staff to make limited adjustments to published rates so the city can boost weekday bookings and better recover costs.
What the council approved Council adopted the amended resolution (old business item 18, resolution 11387) that updates rental fees for the Community Center, half-ballrooms, Rotary Clubhouse and other city-owned facilities. The final motion expanded staff flexibility: staff can increase or decrease the published rate up to 20% for individual bookings to manage occupancy and demand; the resolution retains a separate annual published-rate adjustment authority up to 10% per year (as part of regular rate updates).
Key votes After an extended public and council discussion, a motion to adopt the resolution with the amendment granting staff the +/-20% per-event flexibility passed on roll call: Kozlowski — yes; Leary — no; Bridal — yes; Rohrbaugh — yes; Aquino — yes.
Staff rationale and public comments Tom Hellman, Parks & Recreation, presented the schedule and said the changes are intended to move rates closer to regional comparables, create peak and nonpeak pricing, and allow targeted discounts (residents, nonprofits) to encourage weekday bookings. Council members discussed: whether staff should have authority to vary rates to fill vacancies (Vice Mayor Bridal supported wider flexibility), whether the city should be constrained to only recover direct cost or act as a market participant (City Attorney explained the city can set market rates), and how quickly increases would be implemented given bookings are often made a year in advance.
Council direction Council asked staff to provide clearer slot-based occupancy metrics (number of rentable time slots filled, not just daily counts), to report back on short-term marketing to increase weekday bookings, and to return with data on revenue changes after one year of implementation.
Ending Council members said the fee change is a first step toward improving facility upkeep funding and returning income that could be used for repairs and upgrades; staff will report on implementation and performance as part of the fiscal monitoring process.
