Higher fees a concern

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: July 08, 2010 6:00 PM

A veteran politician is still questioning whether higher parks and recreation fees will leave some people on the sidelines. The North Okanagan Regional District board has adopted new fees for Greater Vernon’s parks and recreation function, but opposition continues to come from director Patrick Nicol. “We should have a way of measuring if it (higher revenue) did what it was supposed to do,” he said, adding that he is concerned that a hike in fees will drive people out of facilities and that will ultimately hurt the bottom line. “Is there a tipping point where you don’t have enough users?” As a result of the board’s decision, there will be a four per cent overall increase for parks and recreation operational costs this year. And once the harmonized sales tax is factored in, fees could climb to a total of 10 to 11 per cent. For ice rentals, minor sports will face a 10.9 per cent hike or an extra $8.82 an hour (total $89.40), while at Wesbild Centre, minor and recreational hockey will face a 10.9 per cent increase or an additional $22.80 an hour for ice ($231.37). The Kokanee Swim Club’s hourly rate for training will jump by $4.23 (total $43.05) and by $12.74 an hour for meets ($129.20). Adult soccer clubs will hand out an extra $28.07 a day for fields (total $284.84), while it will be an additional $14.04 a day for youth soccer ($142.44).

While he suported increasing fees, director Wayne Lippert agrees with Nicol that the potential impact should be investigated. “We need to cover our costs but we need to look at the results and make sure we’re not hampering ourselves,” said Lippert. Director Doug Dirk says NORD had no choice but to adopt the fees because it was a recommendation from the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee. “They went through all of the processes so to go back now doesn’t make sense,” he said.