City Hall Watch: Deficit-busting fee hikes approved for rec activities
By: Joshua Sabatini
Examiner Staff Writer
July 1, 2009
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| Paying the price: Out-of-towners who want to visit the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park will now have to pay more under fee increases approved Tuesday. (Examiner file photo) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Swimming in public pools, renting out a clubhouse or enrolling a child in an after-school program has become more expensive.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a number of Recreation and Park Department fee hikes, which impact athletic fields, parking, clubhouse rentals, swimming pools and two Golden Gate Park cultural institutions, among others.
Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi and Chris Daly opposed an athletic-field fee and pool-fee increases. Mirkarimi warned that the facilities could become “cost prohibitive” and ultimately operate “out of the reach of normal San Franciscans.”
The fee hikes were included in Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposed $6.6 billion budget, which closed a $438 million deficit.
People who use public pools will now be paying $5 instead of $4.
Also, renting a clubhouse will cost more. Stern Grove Trocadero Club House, for example, increases from $115 per hour on weekends to $140.
The cost to rent gyms was also altered, and the new fees have been established based on the gym’s size and whether it was recently renovated. The prices range from $125 an hour to $50.
Included in the new fees is also a $2 per hour increase for parking at Kezar Stadium, which brings the total to $3 an hour.
Rec and Park will also raise money by increasing after-school programs at recreation centers from $8.50 per week to $18.50.
In addition to the fees that many San Franciscans will be hit with, nonresidents have to start paying higher prices to visit the Japanese Tea Garden and the Conservatory of Flowers, both in Golden Gate Park.
IN OTHER ACTION:
- Mirkarimi introduced legislation that would close McCoppin Street west of Valencia Street to vehicles. The roadway would then be turned into a community garden and plaza.
- In a 9-2 vote, a $368 million bond on the November ballot to resurface streets was approved. Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Michela Alioto-Pier opposed it.
- In a 10-1 vote, San Francisco’s
film-rebate program, which offers up to $600,000 in city-fee rebates annually, was extended for three years. - In a 6-4 vote, final approval was given to legislation prohibiting rent increases that would exceed 33 percent of a tenant’s rental income, and allow a tenant to add roommates to help pay rent.
jsabatini@sfexaminer.com
