At the Dec. 18 Franklin City Park Board meeting, parks staff summarized the department’s year-end financial position and announced two fee changes set to take effect in late December and early January.

Speaker 2 said the department will begin charging distinct resident and nonresident rates on Jan. 1. Separately, Speaker 2 said a 3% convenience fee (previously approved by the board two years earlier) will be implemented for card transactions starting Dec. 29 when the vendor setup goes live. Speaker 2 described the 3% as a standard convenience fee and estimated it would generate about $30,000, which the department had previously been absorbing in its budget.

Speaker 2 explained the department’s revenue in 2025 is expected to fall short of 2024’s totals mainly because the city did not run the Eclipse Festival this year and because poor May weather reduced pool attendance. On ways to avoid the convenience charge, Speaker 2 noted that patrons who pay in cash avoid the 3% card fee.

The board recorded no substantive debate on the fee timeline during the meeting; staff said the nonresident rate change and convenience fee setup had been communicated on the parks website and social media. The department did not provide a line-item estimate showing how the $30,000 figure was calculated during the Dec. 18 meeting.