CCP 06-24-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES JUNE 17, 2002 6 . 3.A 2003 Recreation Program Budget Administrator Lynch stated staff would like to have a more productive discussion regarding Recreation Programs and the funding thereof for 2003, He requested Council comments. Council Member Aplikowski asked if classes were full and was the City turning people away. She noted other issues which seem to be changing due to lack of funding, such as the Ramsey County Library and Day in the Park event. Supervisor Olson Michelle said rather than turn people away, she will hire staff to handle the overflow and additional classes. She stated that some programs are fully self-supporting and some that have low administration costs and not as high enrollment. She said the City offered a wide variety of programs, which may be amended to align with what other cities are offering, and the demographic changes within the population. She suggested adjusting the program goals while making some tough cuts that should result in increased revenues. She said she had taken a . closer look at the budget this past year, and would be pleased to do so in the commg years. Council Member Grant suggested funding Park and Recreation at the same level as 2000 with inflationary increase, not fully aware of the budgetary source. He noted that funding the fire department services would not be dependent upon charitable gambling, and posed the question why should recreation programs be. He suggested again using the cable services to advertise programs. He said another option may be to coordinate with other communities. Council Member Larson commended the programs and the directors, but noticed the lack of growth as a reason to view some programs as a luxury during good economic times, He suggested prioritizing provided services. He suggested a reduction of programs so they could be more self-supporting. He said his inclination to reduce the recreation budget was based upon so many other options and opportunities offered through churches, schools, scouts, etc, Mayor Probst said the difficult decisions are based the uncertainty in the predictability of programming. He said there is indeed a budget reality that needs . to be dealt with relative to the decrease in charitable gambling revenues.