New Indoor Recreation Fee Increases Approved

New Indoor Recreation Fee Increases Approved

ROCK SPRINGS – Fees for the Rock Springs indoor recreation facilities and White Mountain Golf Course will go up 20 percent as the Rock Springs City Council unanimously approved the increase Tuesday night.

Under the new increases for the indoor recreation facilities, daily youth passes will jump to $4 while adult daily passes will go up a dollar to $7. Monthly passes will see increases of $7 to $12 depending on the type of memberships while yearly passes for students will jump $45 and $130 for families. There has been a moratorium on annual memberships since December.

The White Mountain Golf Course will also see increases. Green fees for 18 holes for residents will go up to $4 for residents and $7 for non-residents.

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For a complete list of the proposed changes visit this link.

A new proposed fee for events at parks and the use of athletic fields was taken out until more discussion could take place.

Government entities have been dealing with declining revenue streams for several years and Rock Springs Mayor Carl Demshar explained even with a $2 million decrease built into the upcoming budget, the city is 15 percent behind. As the budget committee and department heads looked at individual budgets in the city, both Demshar and Councilman Rob Zotti explained there was one glaring difference from other Wyoming communities and it was recreation costs.

Last year, it cost $1.46 million to run the civic center while it only generated $200,000 in revenue. It cost $2.88 million for the recreation center with only $720,000 revenue. The White Mountain Golf Course cost $1.57 million while only generating $763,000. Demshar noted the high cost to subsidize recreation and said the increases are better than the alternatives discussed which included closing the Civic Center or shutting down the new nine holes at the golf course.

“They are not increases we enjoy making but they are necessary,” Demshar said.

One proposed fee was not included but will continue to be discussed after several youth groups questioned the fee. The fee would have made youth groups such as YAFL, soccer, little league baseball and fast-pitch softball pay a $1,000 per season.

Speaking for youth football, Mike Lowell said while they don’t mind paying fees, they would like to see services, such as fields being taken care of and bathrooms working properly, for the fees. He did think $1,000 was a little excessive.

The Rock Springs Soccer Association pointed out they have two seasons, a fall and a spring season. They asked if this meant they would have to pay the $1,000 fee twice. J.J. Syvrud explained because of the field maintenance, the proposed fee was per season meaning they would have to pay the fee for each. The soccer association worried the new fee would mean increases in registration, which would eliminate some of the lower income.

Girl’s fastpitch is preparing to host the state tournament and starting registration. They said the bid on these tournaments in advanced and feared they would not be able to recoup the new fees. They also had concerns about losing teams and players because of the possibility of higher fees.

The association questioned why they were not allowed to sell advertising and place banners on the fences at the fields to help offset the new fees.

Mayor Demshar said he did not know but with all the questions raised, felt more discussion needed to take place on the new fees. He did say he was pleased that the group was willing to go the extra mile to help offset the costs. With all the questions and concerns raised, the council cut out the park fees until more discussion could take place.