- April 25, 2024
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Should Palm Coast’s parks and recreation facilities increase their user fees? The city last reworked its fee structure in February 2018, leaving it due for an update, Parks & Recreation Director Lauren Johnston said during an April 13 City Council workshop.
“We’re seeing a wedge between operational revenue and increasing maintenance costs,” Johnston said.
The city charges for Tennis Center court reservations and passes, Aquatics Center pool pavilion fees and passes, Palm Harbor Gold Course green fees, Community Center room rentals, park pavilion rentals and athletic field permits.
Maintaining those amenities benefits even people who don’t use them directly, by improving home values, she said.
“The real estate industry says time and time again that people are willing to pay more for their home with proximity to a park,” Johnston said.
She suggested that the city’s staff reconsider fee options for the various use types. Mayor Milissa Holland favored that idea.
Palm Coast has so far received $656,000 in Local Option Fuel Tax money and expects to end fiscal year 2021 on budget, but faces a deficit of $1.6 million for fiscal year 2022, Financial Services Director Helena Alves said.
The city’s Small County Surtax money is coming in higher than budgeted, Alves said. That money will be used to fund the city’s new public works facility.
The city’s half-cent sales tax money is also coming in higher than budgeted, though the city had budgeted expecting a 22% reduction.
“We are not seeing that in the numbers, so that is good news,” Alves said.
The city’s Communications Services Tax is so far on budget, as are state revenue sharing and property taxes, Alves said.
Meanwhile, the number of homes built in the city this year is expected to exceed last year’s total of 1,020, said City Manager Matt Morton.
“The new residents that are coming increases our level of service; our capability is stretched to meet that demand,” he said.
Other indicators of residential construction activity, like PEP tank installations and the number of new cutility bills, are also trending upward.
