Recreation Fee Increase Recommendation and Estimated Revenue SummaryCity of Dubuque
City Council Meeting
Action Items # 07.
Copyrighted
February 5, 2024
ITEM TITLE: Recreation Fee Increase Recommendation and Estimated Revenue
Summary
SUMMARY: City Manager recommending City Council approval of the recreation fee
increases starting spring of 2024 to assist in offsetting the impact of the
recent wage increases and other operational cost increases.
SUGGESTED Suggested Disposition: Receive and File; Approve
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
MVM Memo City Manager Memo
Staff Memo Staff Memo
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TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Recreation Fee Increase Recommendation and Estimated Revenue
Summary
DATE: January 29, 2024
Leisure Services Director Marie Ware is recommending City Council approval of the
recreation fee increases starting spring of 2024 to assist in offsetting the impact of the
recent wage increases and other operational cost increases.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
v
Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:sv
Attachment
CC' Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Jenny Larson, Chief Financial Officer
Marie Ware, Leisure Services Director
Dan Kroger, Recreation Division Manager
THE CITY OF
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Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Marie L. Ware, Leisure Services Director
Dubuque
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SUBJECT: Recreation Fee Increase Recommendation and Estimated Revenue
Summary
DATE: January 29, 2024
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The purpose of this memorandum is to recommend recreation fee increases starting
spring of 2024 to offset the operational impact of the recent operational increases and to
provide information on revenue estimates related to the proposed increases.
BACKGROUND
In May of 2022, the City Council approved wage increases for lifeguards, pool
managers, after school and playground staff. The recommendation was submitted as
these direct impact positions were found to have non-competitive wages and were at a
critical point in the recruitment process. There were not enough applicants at the time
to operate the programs and services safely and effectively for the upcoming summer.
These wage increases brought 4 of the over 20 temporary positions offered each
summer up to a competitive rate.
In December of 2022, a second wave of wage increases was recommended and
approved for over 15 additional temporary/seasonal positions including laborers,
program instructors, customer service (cashiers, facility attendants, concessions, etc.)
and park rangers.
Most of these temporary wages increased from an average of $10/hour to $15.50/hour.
This equates to a 55% increase. FY24 will be the first fiscal year since prior to the
pandemic where all operations are anticipated to be at 100%. Even in FY23, the actual
year end budget was impacted by low staffing levels in the first quarter which resulted in
the closing of Sutton pool and other operational changes within the division. The wage
increase was a major factor in recruitment for the calendar year 2023 as we were at full
staffing for both pools.
The estimated operational impact because of these wage increases from the original
FY23 budget to the proposed FY25 budget is just over $231,000. This increase does
include the 5% cost of living increase in FY24 and a proposed increase in FY25. Due to
this impact, staff were asked to review the opportunity to increase department revenues
to help reduce the impact on the subsidy to the recreation division budget.
DISCUSSION
The largest impact to the operational budget through wage increases were in areas that
are either 100% subsidized free programming (i.e. playgrounds and before/after school
programs) and in aquatics which is the largest staffed and highest subsidized
program/service.
The staff has identified two general categories of revenue within the Recreation Division
where minimal increases are recommended. These are:
• "Program/Service Fees" which include registrations, rentals and passes.
• "Goods Sold" which are items priced based on margins including concessions,
fuel, and store items.
The division offers 100's of programs and services throughout the year which have a
wide range of fees from $5 to $30+ per program. Likewise, our goods sold also vary in
price with a similar range. Staff recommends increasing fees within each category to
achieve an overall percentage increase in total revenue of the Recreation Division by
5%.
As the golf course is set up as an enterprise fund, golf fees are not included as part of
this recommendation. The following chart provides a simple summary of how the 5%
increase would impact these fees for the participant.
Category/Fee Range per Customer
Impact Range 5%
Program Fees Range from $5 to $30
$.25 to $1.50
5ervice/Rental Fees Range from $15 to $75
$.75 to $3.75
Goods Range from $.25 to $30+
$.01 to $1.50+
In addition, staff reviewed the fee structure for daily pool admissions. The largest of the
subsidized programs in the Recreation Division is the pools. This is the result of high
operational costs (staffing and maintenance) combined with well below industry average
user fees as compared to other Iowa cities. Several revenue producing resources such
as lesson fees, passes and rentals will be part of the recommended 5% increases
shown above.
The information below of the cities that Dubuque compares itself to was collected in
2021. The following provides a summary of these communities.
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2021 Daily Admission Pool Fees
City
Population
Youth
Adult
Senior
Dubuque - Current
60,000
$
2.00
$
4.00
$
2.00
Des Moines
200,000
$
2.00
$
4.00
$
4.00
Ankeny
50,000
$
6.00
$
8.00
$
5.00
Davenport
95,000
$
4.00
$
4.00
$
4.00
Iowa City
72,000
$
4.00
$
4.00
$
4.00
Sioux City
82,000
$
4.00
$
5.00
$
5.00
Council Bluffs
67,000
$
5.00
$
5.00
$
5.00
Urbandale
41,000
$
5.00
$
5.00
$
5.00
West Des Moines
55,000
$
6.00
$
9.00
$
7.00
Ames
50,000
$
5.50
$
6.50
$
5.50
Bettendorf
33,000
$
6.00
$
6.00
$
6.00
Cedar Rapids
138,000
$
5.75
$
5.75
$
5.75
Cedar Falls*
40,000
$
5.00
$
5.00
$
5.00
Ave rage
$
4.63
$
5.48
$
4.87
*Prices based on indoor facilities
Cedar Falls also operates an outdoor waterpark. Fees for waterpark admission are
$12/youth and $10/adults. Staff utilized their "indoor" fees for the chart average as
being more representative of other statewide pool fees.
Daily fees within the state range from $2 (Dubuque) to $9 per person depending on age.
Some communities have gone to a flat rate ranging between $3 to $8 regardless of age.
The following chart provides a comparison of the average daily rates of 46 cities in Iowa
and the largest cities within Iowa compared to the current rates in Dubuque.
Staff are recommending increasing daily admission fees for the 2024 season by $1.
This would change the fees for youth and senior to $3, and adults to $5. Dubuque's
fees would remain below average yet provide additional resources to help offset past
wage increases and reduce the pools subsidy.
Pass
State Average
13 City Average
Current Dubuque
Proposed Dubuque
Youth
$ 4.75
$ 4.63
$ 2.00
$ 3.00
Adult
$ 5.25
$ 5.48
$ 4.00
$ 5.00
Senior
$ 4.75
$ 4.87
$ 2.00
$ 3.00
Equity in Access
Even after any proposed fee increases there would continue to be opportunities for
income qualifying families/individuals to purchase season passes at 50% of fee and/or
utilize scholarship funding to purchase lessons or passes for free. Scholarship funds
were also increased in FY24 both in quantity and value. The number of scholarships
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available increased from 200 to 300 and the value increased from $125 per household
to $150. Some of the additional revenues would also be used to continue the expanded
scholarship program into FY25 and beyond.
BUDGETIMPACT
Programs/Service Fees
The 5% fee increase proposed to programs, services and goods sold would generate
over an additional $30,000 for FY25. The following spreadsheet provides a summary
of the proposed budgeted revenues in FY25 prior to this memo as well as the 5%
impact. These increases would be instituted in the spring programs of 2023 and
thereafter.
Category
FY25 Revenue Total
5% Increase
Program/Service Fees
$ 310,995.00
$15,549.75
Goods Sold / Margins
$ 304,576.00
$15,228.80
$ 615, 571.00
$ 30, 778.55
Pool Daily Admissions
Based on the projected number of daily fee users for FY25, raising the youth, adult and
senior fees by $1 would increase revenues by $40,300.
With the combination of a 5% increase and the $1 increase on daily admissions to the
pool, there will be over $70,000 in additional fiscal revenues. These fee increases are to
be implemented starting this spring with the 2024 Summer Brochure. Due to the timing
of registration for these programs and services, this will have a positive impact on
revenues for FY24. This impact is estimated to add an additional $25,000 in revenue.
The total of the increases is $71,079 and only partially offsets the $231,000 increase in
wages as outlined above. All fee increases have been included in the Recreation
Divisions proposed FY25 fiscal budget pending approval of this requested action.
ACTION REQUESTED
This memo is to recommend recreation fee increases starting spring of 2024 to
assisting in offseting the impact of the recent wage increases and other operational cost
increases.
Prepared by: Dan Kroger, Recreation Division Manager
CC' Jenny Larson, Chief Financial Officer
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