Board discusses parks and recreation cost-recovery framework; staff to return with financial modeling

Parks and Recreation staff presented a multi-month project on Jan. 17 to develop a formal cost-recovery philosophy for the district's recreation programs and business-like services. The proposal centers on categorizing services on a pyramid from "community benefit" (low or no recovery) to "highly individual benefit" (near full cost recovery), and on using post-program financial reports to track direct and selected indirect costs.

Presenter Kim (parks & recreation staff) told the board the method provides guardrails for pricing and transparency. "This is the kind of the first presentation and discussion, of a series that we'll go through over the next 3, 4, 5 months," the presenter said, noting staff will return with more detailed financial metrics and modeling. The staff recommendation includes a program-proposal form for new services, required post-program financials, and a staged timeline to test pricing ranges.

Board members discussed category definitions, specific facility treatment (golf course and winter sports park), resident vs. nonresident pricing, scholarship options and reciprocal agreements with neighboring jurisdictions. Several directors urged more granular financial modeling and voiced support for treating some services as businesslike revenue centers while preserving community-benefit programming. The board reached a consensus to proceed to a February follow-up on financial metrics and to refine proposed percentage ranges and overhead allocations before policy adoption.