Parks staff proposes modest 5–10% fee increases; board asks staff to explore resident discounts

Parks staff presented a proposed fiscal‑year fee schedule that would generally raise rental and program user fees by about 5–10% while aiming to "not price ourselves out of the market," staff said during the Aug. 19 Winter Park Parks & Recreation Advisory Board meeting.

"We had a broad 5 to 10% increase on rental fees for fiscal year," Jason (speaker 5) told the board, adding staff used market comparisons with neighboring municipalities to set recommended rates. Staff said credit‑card surcharges would remain a citywide decision and that department proposals focus on cost recovery, not maximizing revenue.

Board members questioned whether some subspace pricing (for add‑on areas such as a terrace or amphitheater) had been set too high in earlier years and recommended targeted adjustments. After discussion, a board member moved to accept staff recommendations "as presented" while adding an instruction to "look into a resident discount," and the board approved the motion by roll call.

The motion instructs staff to finalize the fee schedule in the coming budget process and to research options for a resident vendor or participant discount that could prioritize local users without unduly shifting costs to customers, staff said. The board requested a single consolidated motion at the end of the fee discussion and a roll call vote for the final approval.

Why it matters: The fee schedule affects costs for regular users of Winter Park facilities — from athletic leagues and community groups to vendors at the Saturday Farmers Market — and feeds into Parks & Recreation revenue assumptions used in the city budget.