REPORT TO PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Make a Recommendation to City Council to Adopt Updated Definitions for Field User Categories, Field User Priorities of Use, and Relevant Recreation Fields and Turf Areas Reservations: Practice & Games Fees for the Municipal Fee Schedule 2025/26.
Report
COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Deliver and Enhance High-Quality, Efficient Services and Infrastructure
Enhance Community Sports, Recreational, and Arts Assets
Enhance Community Engagement and Transparency
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clara has a history of supporting youth sports organizations with sports practice and competition facilities. Sports fields have been opened, closed, staffed, and maintained for youth sports use at no charge. Youth sports organizations were required to meet City criteria to receive access to the fields. As the community has grown and the demand for sports fields has increased, the City has had difficulty meeting the demand for field space for all users in the City. In recent years, the "free service" model has widened the gap between the City's general fund budget and the operational cost recovery for utilities, equipment, labor, and maintenance. Although the City continues to place a high community value on youth sports, the need to recover operating costs and plan long-term capital improvement projects has become necessary to deliver high quality facilities and services for the community.
In 2021, the City Council directed staff to conduct a Parks and Recreation Fee and Cost Recovery Study. The study included an extensive community engagement process and resulted in the Cost Recovery Policy adopted by the City Council on April 19, 2022 (Attachment 1, RTC 22-99). The new fees were adopted with the FY 2022/23 Municipal Fee Schedule. The City began charging youth sports organizations for field use permits in fall 2022 under the category: Recreation Fields and Turf Areas Reservations: Practice & Games.
In March 2024, staff began meeting wi...
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