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Meridian parks staff propose nonresident surcharges for shelters and adult programs; youth exempt
Summary
Parks staff presented a plan to add nonresident fees — 20% for shelter and field reservations, 10% for adult and senior programs — with youth programs explicitly exempted. The council asked about verification, software integration and potential impacts; staff said the proposal is a pilot and would be reviewed after one year.
Garrett, a parks department staff member, told the council the department used RecOne/CivicRec account address exports to estimate usage and propose a nonresident fee policy that would raise certain charges for nonresidents. "For shelters... we would increase it 20%," he said, and proposed a 10% increase for adult and senior classes while keeping youth programs free.
The department said its 2025 data showed 2,490 shelter reservations, of which about 660 were nonresident reservations; using an average reservation value of about $114.69, the proposal would generate roughly $15,000 from shelters and about $19,000 total in added revenue under 2025 activity levels. Garrett cautioned the numbers do not account for added staff time and said the city is meeting with its vendor to review ArcGIS/CivicRec integration to improve residency reporting.
Council members focused questions on data confidence and gaming risk. Councilman Kavanagh asked how quickly account addresses update if someone moves to Meridian; Garrett said addresses are verified at account creation and should appear in the system "almost immediate," though he said staff will verify that with the vendor. Councilman Overton and others urged the department to consider audit and anti‑fraud measures and asked whether an additional per‑transaction GIS fee could be added to recover software costs.
Several council members praised keeping youth access free and noted the proposal could be adjusted after implementation. Councilwoman Schaer called the proposal "a pilot" and said staff should return with results after the first year of operation.
The parks department said it will meet with its software vendor to firm up verification and implementation details and will return to the council with updated numbers after initial deployment.
