Boulder proposes 2026 fee changes; players and seniors press city on $10 court reservations and membership hikes

Jackson Hite, senior manager of the Parks & Recreation business services team, presented the proposed 2026 fee schedule, saying "Last Thursday, city council formally approved the 2026 citywide budget. It's a little over $500,000,000," and that the department was adjusting fees to reflect rising costs and to preserve access.

The proposal includes targeted increases across parks operations, golf, outdoor rentals and indoor facility rentals, and it restructures court reservations to a single $10 per court per hour rate for tennis or pickleball reservations. Hite said the $10 rate is intended to simplify the reservation model and to align the city with common municipal practices. He said most proposed increases were under 10 percent and that membership and some software changes will go live with the new recreation management system in mid‑November while remaining fees would take effect Jan. 1.

The proposal drew immediate public concern. Karen Paul, who said she represents nearly 100 mostly senior women pickleball players, told the board the activity is her group’s main form of exercise and socialization and urged the city to…