The Town of Tillsonburg would benefit from a pricing policy. While municipal recreation services are typically subsidized to some degree, fees should be rationalized in terms of cost-benefit. There are currently no parameters in place to identify the point at which services should be charged at higher fees. As the program supply is further developed, it will also be important to be able to determine minimum levels of enrolment/ registration needed to offer a program, based on the costs to deliver it in relation to pre-determined recovery rates. In some cases, this will mean services are not viable to introduce or continue to operate. For all services, there is a finite pool of municipal funds to provide them. 1 Decisions on how services are financed, therefore, always represent opportunity-costs. This will be particularly important to the enabling the municipality to direct investment to upgrading and adding to its facility supply, and to diversify services to reflect a broader range of community needs. The Master Plan supports the general direction of the 2020 Recreation, Culture, Parks Service Review. The Town requires a policy that relates pricing to both service objectives and the costs of provision. The detail and complexity of this work suggests the need to contract a professional to assist the Town with:
• Detailed accounting on the full cost of providing services by type 2 • Confirming the Town’s service objectives • Establishing the types and proportions of costs that should be targeted for recovery through user fees, based on the Town’s service objectives (i.e., where services fall on a ‘continuum’ ranging from fully subsidized to cost recovery +), a simple example of which is outlined in Table 5-5. • Setting fees to recover targeted costs • Allocating services by type to recovery categories • Establishing a timetable for incremental introduction of changes to the pricing structure The 2020 Review includes consideration on pricing (see page 120).
2 In the Town of Cobourg Study, this was called Full Cost Assessment and included: the direct costs of providing services such as resource costs of Town staff involved, materials and supplies, and operating costs of equipment and facilities used in service delivery; indirect costs from supporting Town departments (e.g., IT); capital costs such as those to rehabilitate and replace facilities being used to provide services (https://engagecobourg.ca/ town-of-cobourg-comprehensive-user-fee-study).
1 While grants are available from time to time, they cannot be relied upon to meet the Town’s responsibility for ongoing financial obligations.
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Town of Tillsonburg | DRAFT Parks and Recreation Master Plan
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