SunnyvaleRTC

August 16, 2005

SUBJECT: Consider New Policies to Reduce or Waive Fees for Community Use of City Recreation Buildings for Specific Types of Events – Study Issue PRD-05

REPORT IN BRIEF

This report addresses Study Issue PRD-05 (FY 04/05) regarding individuals and groups requesting the City waive recreation building rental fees for various special activities such as fund-raising and reviews Council’s pilot program to provide free use of park buildings to non-profit community groups of 20 or less people. Please see Attachment A – Proposed Council Study Issue #PRD-05. It presents background on the topics and discussion of options to provide free use of facilities and potential impacts to revenues supporting the Community Recreation Fund.

The current and ongoing budget crisis in Sunnyvale has created a need for the Community Recreation Fund to reduce expenses or increase revenue by approximately $650,000 expressed as ‘Fiscal Strategies’ in the Fund’s Financial Plan for FY 06/07. Due to this structural imbalance and similar to trends seen in nearby cities and organizations, staff recommends Council maintain current expense and revenue levels by reaffirming existing facility rental policies and fees, including Council’s Relationship With Outside Groups Policy.

Presentation of this report concludes the FY 2004/05 pilot program to provide free use of park buildings for non-profit groups of 20 or less people, unless otherwise directed by Council.

At their July 13, 2005, meeting, the Parks and Recreation Commission reviewed this report and recommended Alternative No. 1, Direct staff to maintain the current administratively-set fee schedule that includes discounts for residents and Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups and exempts primary revenue producing recreation facilities (such as the Community Center Ballroom, Community Room, and Senior Center Orchard Pavilion Rooms) from discounted use during peak rental times. Address requests for free or very-highly discounted uses through Council’s Relationships with Outside Groups Policy.

BACKGROUND

The Community Recreation Fund was established in FY 1991/92 to help reduce reliance on the General Fund and to provide long-term financial stability for recreation programs and activities, especially for youth, teens and seniors. Currently all facility rental fees are set administratively and over $400,000 of income is received annually from the rental of recreation facilities. This includes $80,000 from the Senior Center, $241,620 from the Community Center, and $89,000 from Park Buildings, which is used to help support services of the Community Recreation Fund. Please see Attachment B – Facility Rental Rate Schedule and Non-Profit Organization Qualification Procedure. When rental fees are waived or reduced, potential revenue to the Community Recreation Fund is decreased and the opportunity to rent a facility to other groups that would pay the regular fees is eliminated.

In the past, Council has received numerous requests from community groups and individuals requesting City subsidy for their activities by waiving the recreation building rental fees. Recently, Council was approached by two individuals, both requesting free use of the new Senior Center’s Orchard Pavilion Rooms for fund-raising events. In one case, the request was to benefit the Columbia Middle School Youth Band; the other was for breast cancer research. In both situations, concern was noted regarding the potential negative impact that providing free use of facilities has on the Community Recreation Fund and ongoing efforts to reduce the General Fund subsidy through facility rental revenues. Council waived facility rental fees for the Columbia School event and avoided a negative impact to the Community Recreation Fund by using General Fund resources to pay for the rental. Free use of City facilities to raise funds for breast cancer research was denied.

During the budget process for FY 2004/05, Council approved a pilot program to provide free use of park buildings for community group meetings with 20 or fewer attendees. This program was generated by Budget Supplement DPR-27B Waive Park Building Use Fees for Non-Profit Groups. Please see Attachment C – DPR 27B Waive Park Building Use Fees for Non-Profit Groups. This project included use of park buildings for ongoing meetings and activities as well as one-time events.

Subsequently, Councilmembers Chu and Swegles proposed this issue be included in the December 2005 Study Issues process and Council ranked it for study in calendar year 2005.

EXISTING POLICY

From the General Plan, Recreation Sub-Element

GOAL C. Develop and enhance the operation of the Community Recreation Fund, maintaining sound financial strategies and practices that will enable the City to provide an array of recreational programs, facilities, and services to a maximum number of citizens while minimizing the impact on the General Fund.

Policy C.1. Strengthen the use of the Community Recreation Fund as a means to increase financial self-sufficiency and to decrease dependence upon the City's General Fund.

C.1.b. Develop strategies to recoup an increased percentage of program costs, where appropriate, without limiting participation, and taking into consideration the carrying capacity of facilities.

Policy C.2. Identify revenue sources and, where possible, increase revenues which can be allocated to recreation programming, facilities, and services.

Policy C.3. Utilize available pricing and promotional tools in order to maximize participation and/or use related programs, facilities and services, without jeopardizing the integrity and infrastructure of related facilities.

C.3a. Utilize market-based pricing in the establishment of fees, and continually evaluate the effectiveness of pricing strategies.

C.3b. Structure the pricing and enrollment system for class registration and facility reservation to give City residents advantage over non-residents, where feasible and appropriate.

GOAL E. Provide and maintain recreation facilities based on community need, as well as on the ability of the City to finance, construct, maintain, and operate these facilities now and in the future.

From the General Plan Fiscal Management Sub-Element

7.1A.1i. Establish user charges and fees at a level closely related to the cost of providing those services.

7.1A.1k. For each enterprise fund, review fees annually and set them at a level that will support the total direct and indirect costs of the activity.

Additionally, Council approved a pilot program for FY 2004/05 that provides free rental use of park buildings to non-profit groups of 20 or less.

Civil Service Rules

70.02.D - No person shall be granted or be permitted any consideration, treatment, advantage or favor beyond that which is general practice to grant or make available to the public at large.

70.02.E - Publicly owned or supported property, equipment, vehicles, labor or services shall be used for public purposes only. Public use shall mean that use which under general practice is available to the public at large, or which under stated policy is authorized in the conduct of official business, or other uses as defined by action of the City Council.

DISCUSSION

The City regularly receives requests from the public that seek financial and other support services for meetings, events and activities. If a community group wants to use recreation facilities on an ongoing basis and they meet certain criteria, they are eligible for consideration of a special use agreement which addresses those needs (through Council’s policy regarding “Relationships with Outside Groups”). Otherwise, groups and individuals must pay established fees for use of City facilities.

Why Waive Facility Rental Fees

There are several sound reasons for the City to waive or discount facility rental fees for public groups. They include:

Community members are the source of funding to acquire the City’s recreation buildings and those facilities are intended to be used for the benefit of the community.
Recreation buildings may be the only facilities that have the type of space or amenities the community needs for conducting specific activities.
If the City is not using a building for City business, programs or maintenance efforts and the building is not being rented, the building would sit vacant if not otherwise used by the community.
Groups (especially non-profit organizations) could further their goals while conserving their resources through the use of recreation buildings and thus provide increased benefits to the community.
The community is generally supportive of providing assistance to help promote the many worthwhile programs and activities that community groups provide for Sunnyvale.

Why Limit Waiving of Facility Rental Fees

There are also several good reasons to limit the number or amount of facility rental fee waivers for community groups. They include:

To address the current and ongoing budget crisis in Sunnyvale which has created a need to improve the bottom line for the Community Recreation Fund (reduce expenses or increase revenue) by $650,000 in FY2006/07. This target, expressed as ‘Fiscal Strategies’ in the Financial Plan for the Community Recreation Fund was adopted by Council in June 2005. All planned revenue and expense data assumes that users of City facilities will pay the established fees. Waiving fees for use of City facilities will increase the structural imbalance in the Community Recreation Fund and conflict with strategies for dealing with the budget crisis.
To recover costs associated with providing recreation buildings for use by the public, including: construction, maintenance, repairs, cleaning, scheduling, and supervision.
To avoid negative impacts to the Community Recreation Fund by retaining rental revenues that help to offset the costs of heavily subsidized recreation services provided to youth, teens, seniors and the economically disadvantaged.
To encourage groups to utilize privately owned buildings and thus involve more of the community in their activities.

Facility Rentals in Sunnyvale

For the purpose of recapturing the costs of providing recreation facilities for public use, the City has made various buildings available for rental use and has established policies and fees for such use. A review of Attachment B, Facility Rental Rate Schedule and Non-Profit Organization Qualification Procedure, indicates how the City helps promote community benefits through the use of recreation buildings. The City has established highly-discounted rental fees for residents and Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups, except for specific rooms (currently, the Community Center Ballroom, Community Room, and Senior Center Orchard Pavilion Rooms) that are exempted during peak rental times (Friday 6 p.m. through Sunday midnight).

Facility Rentals in Other Communities and Organizations

The City is not alone in charging facility rental fees to help recover operating costs. All the cities surrounding Sunnyvale, along with the majority of California cities, rent facilities to the public. The local school districts in Sunnyvale also charge rental fees to non-school related groups (including the City of Sunnyvale) in an effort to recover operational costs. Each year the City pays to rent recreational buildings from the Sunnyvale Elementary School District (SESD), Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD), and the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD). Several years ago, SESD developed their rental fee pricing based on what the City of Sunnyvale charged for similar facilities.

Other California cities also face the dilemma of balancing requests from the community to waive facility rental fees with the increasing costs to provide those facilities. While the policies and fees are quite different among cities, one common thread is the increasing interest in recovering operational cost through fees and charges. Please see Attachment D - Facility Rental Survey.

What to Provide and To Whom

The City has a long-standing policy of providing highly-discounted facility rental fees to residents and qualifying Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups. Even with these discounted fees, there remain a significant number of community groups and individuals that seek free use of facilities. This interest in free or low-cost use brings us to a key issue of this report. That is, if facility fee waivers are to be provided, the City should also provide definition or limitation of which buildings are to be made available, when they should be available and what activities or causes are eligible.

There is a broad and ever increasing range of activities and causes that could come to Council’s attention through request for facility rental fee waivers. Because it is difficult to predict the specific nature of the many possible requests, it may be more practical for Council to establish simple standards such as:

Not allow any free or more highly subsidized use than currently provided to all residents and Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups.
Use common criteria like Non-Profit 501-C3 status to qualify for support.
Establish other criteria that Council chooses to use for determining the type and level of subsidized support to be provided.

Criteria for Providing Facility Fee Support

A number of criteria could be considered in determining which groups could receive free or discounted use of City facilities. Criteria such as: youth organizations only; organizations with no paid staff; senior organizations, and/or any combination of these types of groups. Funding could also be limited by day of the week, time of day, number of occasions or hours per group per year, etc. Any or all of these criteria could be considered in establishing new policy for waiving facility use fees.

The most common use to date has been by groups that provide services and activities to youth (Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Las Madres). Therefore, this criterion is considered below, with pros and cons noted in the Alternatives section of this report.

Review of Council’s Pilot Program

Council’s FY 2004/05 pilot program, which provided free use of park buildings for community group meetings with 20 or fewer attendees was initiated by Budget Supplement DPR-27B Waive Park Building Use Fees for Non-Profit Groups (Attachment C). This project included facility use for ongoing meetings and activities as well as one-time events. During the pilot program, approximately 90% of the free use time was provided to three groups (Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Las Madras parent/child groups). By the end of FY 04/05, staff estimates eligible groups will have used 1,500 hours of park building rental time, at an estimated revenue value of $15,000 based on the non-profit rate of $10.00 per hour. The estimated revenue value and cost figures assume the groups would, in fact, choose to rent from the City rather than use other options such as meeting in schools, churches, homes, etc. Were this pilot program to become policy, staff anticipates demand would grow as more groups become aware of the opportunities for free use. This would result in increased demand and additional displacement of regular fee paying use which would in turn increase demand for General Fund subsidy. Additionally, as demand grows, the cost to make reservations, schedule facility attendants, clean and maintain the buildings will also increase.

Relationships with Outside Groups Policy and Special Agreements

The Relationships With Outside Groups Policy (approved by Council October 21, 2003), is an umbrella policy under which all types of relationships between the City and outside organizations are covered and it describes the full range of various City programs and policies designed to promote relationships between the City and outside organizations. Please see Attachment E, Relationships With Outside Groups policy.

As the starting point for groups seeking a relationship with the City, this policy provides groups a good overview of all the different types of relationships available, a good sense as to which type would best serve their interest, and guidance on how to proceed.

While this policy simplifies things for many groups, it does not limit in any way Council’s ability to approve “Special Agreements” with organizations seeking levels or types of support not specifically provided or addressed by the policy. Any "Special Agreement" requiring Council approval would first be reviewed by the appropriate board or commission. Where no appropriate board or commission existed, the Office of the City Manager would provide its review prior to Council consideration.

There are currently a number of groups that have special agreements with the City, which include greatly discounted use of City recreation facilities. For example, Girl Scouts receive some limited use free and receive regular use of park buildings for $1.00 per hour. Youth sports groups also get some limited use free and pay $1.00 per hour for sports field ($2.00 with lights) and pay the normal non-profit fee for park buildings. However, due to the current pilot program to provide free use of park buildings, all non-profit groups, including scouts and youth sports organizations, receive free use of park buildings for groups of 20 or less.

How Much To Provide and How to Fund

In addition to determining what to provide and to whom, if any facility rentals fees are to be waived, it is necessary to determine what amount of facility rental fees to waive. Currently, all facility rental fees are set administratively. However, Council could provide direction regarding eligibility for discounts and the amount of discount. Council may also wish to consider the current level of discounted rental fees for non-profit groups and provide direction to increase or decrease that level of discount on a yearly basis as the City budget is approved.

Providing facility fee waivers could elevate concerns regarding the amount of General Fund subsidy provided to the Community Recreation Fund. To address the appropriate funding level, there are multiple options to consider, including:

Reduce the current subsidy to other recreation programs (essentially reducing service levels) to fund the facility rental fee waivers.
Adopt a policy not to allow further reductions in rental fees beyond what is currently available, thus not changing the current revenue or expense budgets (annual and long-term).
Subsidize facility rental fee waivers from another source, such as the General Fund, to reimburse the Community Recreation Fund for any free or reduced rate use that meets Council criteria.

These options are further discussed in the following alternatives:

Possible Alternatives with Pros & Cons

Alternative 1 - Maintain the current discounted rental rates for residents and Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups as noted in Attachment B – Facility Rental Rate Schedule and Non-Profit Organization Qualification Procedure, including exempting the primary revenue producing recreation facilities (such as the Community Center Ballroom, Community Room, and Senior Center Orchard Pavilion Rooms) from all subsidized or discounted community use during peak rental times. Require any groups requesting greater benefit from the City to apply through the City’s existing “Relationships with Outside Groups” policy.

Pros:

This provides an equally discounted rate for residents and non-profit groups.

This requires users to help pay for the services they receive.

This retains facility rental income that assists in meeting demands of highly subsidized services provided through the Community Recreation Fund by not reducing the current level of rental income.

This retains the process by which groups can request free use of City buildings for ongoing use that benefits the community (Relationships with Outside Groups Policy and Special Agreements).

Cons:

Unless a group obtains a special agreement with the City, this does not provide free facility use or a rental rate that is less than what is offered to residents and Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups.

This would require groups that desire one-time discounts/uses to request subsidies, beyond what is currently available, through Special Agreements per Council’s policy for Agreements with Outside Groups.

This does not take into consideration the varying abilities of different groups to pay rental fees. This is to say, one non-profit group may have adequate funds to pay facility rental fees while another may not.

Alternative 2 – As noted previously above, any number of alternative criteria for recreation facility subsidies could be considered and individual alternatives listed for each. However, as an example, this alternative provides an option that would allow subsidies for the most common user groups during Council’s 2004 Pilot Program – that is, youth oriented groups.

Alternative 2 would create a Youth Groups Recreation Facility Fee Waiver Fund for the purpose of reimbursing the Community Recreation Fund for rental fees waived by Council for youth oriented groups. An amount of $20,000 for Council’s fee waiver fund may be appropriate. Council would need to identify a funding source. Staff would waive fees for organizations that provide services and/or activities for youth of Sunnyvale as they place reservations for use of various City facilities.

Pros:

Provides a process by which youth oriented groups can apply for financial assistance regarding recreation building rental fees.
All groups that provide services to youth would be treated equally.
Eliminates negative fiscal impact to the Community Recreation Fund by using funds from another source to replace the waived rental income.

Cons:

This would increase service levels in a fiscally-constrained environment. It does not address the ongoing financial crisis. It simply moves funding of facility fee waivers from one source into another and reduces the overall revenue to the City.
This creates a process that would likely encourage requests from additional youth oriented public groups and therefore, over time would increase the need for additional funding.
When the planned budget is expended during a fiscal year and additional requests are received, staff would return to Council to request additional funding.
Requests would still come before Council if an individual or groups does not provide services or activities for youth or if the funds are not available to support the requests.
This would provide an additional policy expressly for the benefit of youth groups that could be addressed with the existing Relationships with Outside Groups policy and Special Agreements that Council uses for all groups that desire support from the City.

Alternative 3 - Create a Recreation Facility Fee Waiver Fund for the purpose of reimbursing the Community Recreation Fund for rental fees waived by Council. An amount of $20,000 for Council’s fee waiver fund may be appropriate. Council would need to identify a funding source. If approved, staff will develop a process by which the community can request facility fee waivers and by which Council, Commissioners or staff can evaluate requests and determine the appropriate funding.

Pros:

Provides a process by which individuals and groups can apply for financial assistance regarding recreation building rental fees.
All requests could be viewed as a whole and a determination made regarding the level of support provided by the City for each request.
Eliminates negative fiscal impact to the Community Recreation Fund by using funds from another source to replace the waived rental income.

Cons:

This would increase service levels in a fiscally-constrained environment. It does not address the ongoing financial crisis. It simply moves funding of facility fee waivers from one source into another and reduces the overall revenue to the City.
This creates a process that would likely encourage requests from additional public groups and therefore, over time would increase the need for additional funding.
When the planned budget is expended during a fiscal year and additional requests are received, staff would return to Council to request additional funding.
Requests could still come before Council if an individual or groups does not meet the established criteria or if the funds are not available to support the requests.
Developing and implementing a new review and decision-making process would increase the workload of Council, Commission(s), and staff.
This would provide an additional policy for the benefit of community groups that could be addressed with the existing Relationships with Outside Groups policy and Special Agreements that Council uses for groups that desire support from the City.

Alternative 4 – Reduce subsidized recreation services (youth, teen, seniors and economically disadvantaged) and provide a facility fee waiver budget of an equal amount as determined by Council (staff suggests $20,000 initially) to provide free or reduced recreation facility rental use by community groups for special events or one-time use, as approved by Council during the fiscal year. Develop a process by which the community can request the waiver of rental fees for use of recreation buildings and by which Council, Commissioners or staff can evaluate requests and determine the appropriate funding level(s).

Recreation programs that serve adults could be reduced; however, adult services are essentially cost recovery in most cases and generate significant revenue as a whole. Reducing adult services would not likely result in savings that could cover the costs of rental fee waivers.

Pros:

Individuals and groups have a process by which they can apply for assistance with recreation building rental fees.
Council is able to review all requests and make a determination as to the level of support provided by the City for each request.
The Community Recreation Fund structural imbalance is not made worse as facility fee waiver costs are offset by equal reductions of existing recreational programs and activities.

Cons:

This would not increase the planned subsidy from the General Fund. However, it would reduce recreation programs to population groups without an opportunity for their input.
A process would be created that would likely encourage requests from the public and therefore, over time, would increase the need for additional funding.
When the planned budget is expended during a fiscal year and additional requests are received, staff would return to Council to request additional funding.
Requests could still come before Council if an individual or groups does not meet the established criteria or if the funds are not available to support the requests.
Developing and implementing a new review and decision-making process would increase the workload of Council, Commission(s), and/or staff.
This would provide an additional policy for the benefit of community groups that could be addressed with the existing Relationships with Outside Groups policy and Special Agreements that Council uses for all groups that desire support from the City.

Alternative 5 - Implement a policy providing free use of park buildings for Sunnyvale-based non-profit group meetings with 20 or fewer attendees.

Pros:

This replicates the FY 2004/05 Pilot Program and provides Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups the ability to use park buildings for their meetings and activities at no cost to their organizations.
Only park buildings revenues would be impacted by this option, all other facilities would continue to be available for rental.
Eliminates the need of small non-profit organizations to go through a time consuming request or review process to obtain reduced or free use of park buildings.

Cons:

This would increase the Community Recreation Fund’s structural imbalance, already estimated to be $650,000., by decreasing planned revenues for facility rentals.
This provides the same level of free use to all organizations of 20 or less people, regardless of their purpose, activity, ability to pay a rental fee or their benefit to the community.
The level of potential rental revenue for the Community Recreation Fund would be reduced and the workload for the reservations staff would likely increase. At some point this could require additional General Fund subsidy or an equal reduction in subsidized recreation service levels.
Some uses may occur that do not meet established criteria. That is, enforcement of the 20 person regulation is difficult as some groups do not know how many people will show up at any given meeting or activity and the City does not have staff available to monitor the number of people actually using each facility.
Several Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups including; Little Leagues, Soccer Leagues and Girl Scouts already have obtained very-highly discounted use of facilities through special agreements with Council’s Relationships with Outside Groups policy.
This would provide an additional policy expressly for the benefit of Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups that could be addressed with the existing Relationships with Outside Groups policy and Special Agreements that Council uses for all groups that desire support from the City.

FISCAL IMPACT

Fiscal impact of the above alternatives is as follows.

Alternative 1

This alternative would not result in a positive or negative fiscal impact to operating budgets as it would retain current facility use and rental policies and related fee structure.

Alternative 2

This alternative would establish a Youth Groups Facility Fee Waiver Fund to reimburse the Community Recreation Fund essentially increasing the subsidy to the Community Recreation Fund for benefits provided to youth oriented groups. Funding of this option might begin with an annual budget of $20,000. The funding source would need to be identified. As community groups that provide services to youth become more aware of this service, it is expected that the number of requests would increase and; therefore, the costs of funding this service would increase.

Alternative 3

This alternative, similar to number two, above would establish a Facility Fee Waiver Fund to reimburse the Community Recreation Fund essentially increasing the subsidy to the Community Recreation Fund for benefits provided to community groups. Funding of this option might begin with an annual budget of $20,000. The funding source would need to be identified. As the community becomes more aware of this service, it is expected that the number of requests would increase and; therefore, the costs of funding this service would increase.

Alternative 4

This alternative would not result in a positive or negative impact to the Community Recreation Fund. However, there would be a negative customer impact as subsidized recreation programs would be reduced to cover the cost of facility use waivers. Reduced or eliminated services would be selected from among those provided to youth, teens, seniors, economically disadvantaged populations. As participants learn of reductions to their services they would likely express their dissatisfaction to Council and staff.

Alternative 5

This alternative would have a negative fiscal impact estimated to be equal to the FY 2004/2005 Pilot Program ($26,791) and could increase in future years as demand for this new service level increases. The funding source would need to be identified. This alternative would provide free use of park buildings for non-profit group meetings with 20 or fewer attendees. Similar to the pilot program previously approved by Council, this service would result in the loss of planned rental income and increase reservation staffing costs. Depending on the number of reservations and number of users requiring facility attendants to open and close buildings, there could be additional costs required to provide this level of service in the coming years as well as further reduction in rental income if free use displaces existing or planned paid rental use.

Conclusion

Maximizing revenue opportunities to assist the Community Recreation Fund in becoming self sufficient and increasingly subsidizing the community’s use of parks and recreation facilities, are opposing goals.

Community groups currently have the option of seeking a special agreement with the City for free use or further reductions in facility rental fees through Council’s Relationships with Outside Groups policy.

Waiving facility rental fees increases, by an equal amount, the structural gap of the Community Recreation Fund or requires an equal reduction in funding for recreation programs and services.

Community groups greatly appreciate the opportunity to schedule meetings in public facilities at no or reduced costs. It is likely that community groups will continue to desire free use of recreation facilities in increasing numbers and amounts in the coming years.

Community groups have options of using facilities, such as schools, churches, privately owned buildings, restaurants, local service clubs, and private homes for some of the intended meetings and activities.

Facility fee waivers or subsidized fees beyond what is currently available, could be provided to community groups by increasing the budget subsidy to the Recreation Division, or existing Recreation Division services could be reduced or eliminated to provide this new service level to community groups.

A new process could be established to approve certain community groups’ use of specific public facilities, for a budgeted total cost to the City as established by City Council each year. This would be similar to the current process for Outside Groups Funding.

PUBLIC CONTACT

Public contact was made through posting of the Parks and Recreation Commission agenda and Council agenda on the City’s official notice bulletin board, posting of the agenda and report on the City’s web page, and the availability of the report in the City Clerk’s office, Library, Parks and Recreation Administration Office, Corporation Yard, Community Center, and Senior Center.

Notice of Commissions and Council meetings regarding this report was also distributed to the "Friends of Parks and Recreation" mailing list (a list of organizations and individuals who have expressed an interest in parks and recreation issues).

The Parks and Recreation Commission held a public hearing on this item at their meeting on July 13, 2005.

ALTERNATIVES

Direct staff to maintain the current administratively-set fee schedule that includes discounts for residents and Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups and exempts primary revenue producing recreation facilities (such as the Community Center Ballroom, Community Room, and Senior Center Orchard Pavilion Rooms) from discounted use during peak rental times. Address requests for free or very-highly discounted uses through Council’s Relationships with Outside Groups Policy.
Direct staff to create a Youth Groups Recreation Facility Fee Waiver Fund in an initial amount of $20,000 for the purpose of reimbursing the Community Recreation Fund for free or reduced rate use of facilities by groups that provide services or activities for youth of Sunnyvale. Council will need to identify the funding source.
Direct staff to create a Recreation Facility Fee Waiver Fund in an initial amount of $20,000 for the purpose of reimbursing the Community Recreation Fund for free or reduced rate use of facilities as Council may approve during each fiscal year. Council will need to identify the funding source. Develop a process and criteria by which the community can request facility fee waivers and Council can evaluate requests and determine appropriate funding.
Direct staff to create a Facility Fee Waiver Fund in an initial amount of $20,000 and reduce existing services provided to youth, teens, seniors, and the economically disadvantaged to offset the costs of providing use of facilities as Council may approve during each fiscal year. Develop a process and criteria by which the community can request facility fee waivers.
Provide free use of park buildings to Sunnyvale-based non-profit organizations for meetings with 20 or fewer attendees and adjust planned budgets as specified in Budget Supplement Form DPR-27B for FY 2004/05. Council would need to identify the funding source.
Other action as determined by Council.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends Alternative No. 1 which directs staff to maintain the current administratively-set fee schedule that includes discounts for residents and Sunnyvale-based non-profit groups and exempts primary revenue producing recreation facilities (such as the Community Center Ballroom, Community Room, and Senior Center Orchard Pavilion Rooms) from discounted use during peak rental times. Address requests for free or very-highly discounted uses through Council’s Relationships with Outside Groups Policy.

Staff recommends this action because it:

Allows groups to ask for specific amounts and types of support from the City.
Provides an initial administrative review by staff of all group requests.
Maintains Council’s flexibility and final authorization of each group’s amount and type of support; thereby, providing customization of agreements according to groups’ needs and City’s ability to fund those needs.
Allows for adaptation of support during times of fiscal constraint without the need for new policies.
Doesn’t preclude any group’s free use of City facilities, but requires Council’s approval of a special agreement in advance.
Supports existing facility rental policies and fee structure that provides for significant discounts to residents and Sunnyvale-based non-profit organizations.
Allows Council to consider current budget information along with specific group requests to lessen negative impacts upon the Community Recreation Fund and/or the General Fund.
Avoids potential negative impacts to current participants of recreation programs and activities if the City provided funding for facility fee waivers through reductions of existing recreation services, without opportunities for their input.

Reviewed by:

Curtis Black, Interim Director, Parks and Recreation Department
Prepared by: John Lawrence, Recreation Superintendent

Reviewed by:

Mary J. Bradley
Director, Finance Department

Approved by:

Amy Chan
City Manager

Attachments
A. 2005 Proposed Council Study Issue No. PRD-05
B. Facility Rental Rate Schedule and Non-Profit
C. Budget Supplement Form, FY 2004/2005, DPR-27B Waive Park Building Use Fees for Non-Profit Groups
D. Facility Rental Survey
E. Relationships with Outside Groups Policy