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Parks and rec director outlines fee changes and staffing shifts to trim costs
Summary
Parks & Recreation officials described an enterprise-style budget, proposed modest fee increases (notably for summer day camps) and staffing/operational changes (move seasonal staff to winter operations) designed to reduce the department’s net tax burden by roughly $271,000 on paper.
The Parks and Recreation director presented a program-by-program snapshot and said department expenses are projected at about $347,000 with revenues near $45,000 under the town-manager presentation. He identified key programs (summer day camps, after-school care, fitness center, senior programming and the Moxie 5K) and proposed modest fee adjustments — especially for out-of-town participants in summer day camps — that could yield $10,000–$15,000 in extra revenue for that program.
The director described staff changes to reduce costs: not filling a retiring position, relying more on volunteers for some senior programming, moving park seasonal staff into winter operations for about 18 weeks, and trimming international/overnight trip programming. He said program budgets have been adjusted to show associated fringe benefits in cost centers and that staff will provide a detailed list of proposed fee changes for council review by early April so registration and program marketing (which opens April 1) will align with any approved changes.
Councilors discussed timing, the effect on registration, and whether fee increases should be incremental to avoid discouraging participation. The director offered to provide comparative data with neighboring towns and a rationale for recommended fee levels.
