City of Toronto staff are proposing “nominal” new fees for sports fields starting next year, after a backlash from kids’ leagues prompted council to cancel heftier charges for 2012.
A report going to Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee next week proposes fees ranging from $2 per hour to $6 per hour for each child or youth, depending on the quality of the field.
In January, as part of budget deliberations, council quietly approved fees ranging from $6 to $12 per hour to raise an extra $1.5 million per year, where previously there had been no fees at all.
Leagues for youth baseball, soccer, lacrosse, ball hockey and other sports were blindsided with bills for tens of thousands of dollars. Some warned they might fold because they had not budgeted for any fees in 2012 and had no way to suddenly charge parents extra amounts up to $100 per child.
Council backtracked in April, cancelling the 2012 fees and directing staff to widely consult with users before suggesting fees for next year.
The recommended reduced fees would generate an extra $650,000 per year for the city.
Andrew Pace, president of the East York Baseball Association, likes how the report talks about greater co-operation and communication between the city and the leagues.
“But we’re not ready to start on fees yet — there’s still a big gap between what services we’re getting and what (city staff) want,” he said.
Pace wants to know if the $20,000 his association spends each year to improve and maintain city facilities will count against its fees. Also, how will the city charge for low-income kids his association subsidizes?
Councillor Paula Fletcher, who helped initiate dialogue with the fee-shocked leagues, said Tuesday that, no matter how Ford’s executive votes next week, the new rates are not a “done deal.”
“We will consult with as many leagues as possible before executive (committee meeting) and before it goes to council next month,” said Fletcher (Ward 30, Toronto-Danforth).
The Toronto Sports Council is hosting a meeting of league officials at 3 p.m. Sunday. The council’s Karen Pitre says her understanding from the leagues is that they’re concerned about flaws in the policy and the fields themselves.
Leagues don’t want to pay exorbitant fees into general revenues when many of the fields are in very poor shape, Fletcher said.
“The message was, ‘If you introduce modest fees, how are you guaranteeing that the money will go to improving these fields?”
The new staff report suggests only steps “to strengthen the city’s partnership with sports organizations and to improve the quality of sports fields and report back to council after the 2013 season.”
Fletcher said that, as well as potentially improving facilities, modest fees would end the practice of leagues block-booking fields and then not using all the time.
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