CITY OF SUNNYVALE
Department of Parks and Recreation
June 13, 2003

TO: Parks and Recreation Commission
FROM: Robert A. Walker, Director of Parks and Recreation 

SUBJECT: Facility Rental Fees for Fiscal Year 2003/2004

Attached please find the Parks and Recreation Department’s Facility Rental Rate Schedule for Fiscal Year 2003/2004. It details the fees associated with the rental of City buildings under the jurisdiction of the Parks and Recreation Department. The Commission will recall that in accordance with Council policy, these fees are established annually by the Director of Parks and Recreation—no action is required by the Commission. With the exception of co-sponsored groups as outlined below, these fees go into effect on July 1, 2003.

Given the budget crisis and the City’s current focus on revenue generation, I thought you might appreciate the following notes as well:

• All facility rental rates have now been consolidated onto a one-page document for ease of review and handling by both staff and the public. This replaces and simplifies a previous collection of more than a half-dozen separate pieces of information.
• All facility rental rates have been increased for inflation and adjusted to the market (based on surveys of comparable facilities) where appropriate.
• Theatre rental fees have been changed to a flat rate per hour rather than the use of a sliding fee scale based on ticket prices.
• Park building rental rates have been established for Sunnyvale non-profit groups. In the past, some non-profits and most co-sponsored activities were able to use park buildings at no charge. While priority use of City facilities is a benefit of Council’s Co-Sponsorship Policy, free use of City facilities is not. Given the City’s fiscal situation, increasing maintenance and utility costs, and administrative costs associated with all facility rentals, Sunnyvale non-profits (including co-sponsored groups) will now pay $10 per hour for use of park buildings. Please note that staff has met with all co-sponsored groups, each of which understands the City’s fiscal situation and has indicated this does not present an undue hardship on them. It should be further noted that Sunnyvale residents have been paying $60 per hour for use of these same buildings for years now (for functions such as birthday parties), and that this fee is not seen as unreasonable by the public.
• Other facility fees charged to co-sponsored groups are being explored by staff in association with impacted groups. These include fees for use of athletic fields and special use facilities such as the gymnasium and swimming pools. Again, all groups understand the need for this action—in fact, most have indicated a real desire to help and acknowledge that they have long received much better service at far less cost than many of their counterparts in other cities. I also want to stress that no such fees will be imposed until January 1, 2004. This provides ample time for staff to work closely with impacted groups to establish reasonable fees and to allow groups sufficient time to manage their budgets accordingly. Rather than impose fees unilaterally, staff has asked each group to recommend fees it believes are reasonable and affordable. Staff will then use these as a starting point for further discussion and analysis amongst all related groups (we won’t want to charge different little leagues different fees for use of fields). Once these additional rates have been determined, staff will share them with the Commission as well.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact my office.

Attachment

c:       Mayor and City Councilmembers

          City Manager

          Parks & Recreation Department Managers