Approved Materials - Reston Community Center

March 18, 2013 Board of Governors Finance Committee Meeting Report
demand for senior fitness and for summer camps. She said we are unable to do anything further to
address the swimming lessons wait lists, but that we want to ensure that we’re using personnel resources
to address problems in other areas where resolution is feasible.
Leila opened the conversation up for discussion. Bill P. asked about timing. Leila said the Staff would like
to come back at the April 8 Finance Committee Meeting with suggested changes. The Finance
Committee would then make a recommendation to the full Board. Gerald asked if we would have patron
feedback by then. Leila said yes because they planned on surveying people following their regular
classes, and we will try to accomplish that between now and the next meeting.
Cathy asked about the swimming costs. Leila explained the class pricing is equitable in terms of
comparable fees at other public facilities. However, the gate fee is significantly lower since it has not been
changed in 30 years. She said that we want to be sensitive to the fact that the community is subsidizing
its utilization, but we also don’t want a low gate fee to contribute to the over-use and hyper-demand of the
pool. Leila pointed out that non-Reston patrons can currently swim for less at RCC than at Fairfax County
Park Authority pools, which is unfair. RCC Aquatics Director Joe Leary agreed that non-Reston Fairfax
residents should pay the same rate as they would at a Park Authority pool.
Cathy asked what percentage of non-Reston patrons use the pool. Leila and Joe Leary indicated that
non-Reston patrons account for about 10 percent of the RCC pool users.
Roger asked how we determine residency at the point of entry for the pool. Joe Leary said Aquatics users
the honor system for the most part, but that it would always be possible to verify a patron’s status.
The Board agreed that they are comfortable with this approach to the pricing review and indicated that the
Staff can move forward with its efforts. Bill P. suggested that the Staff present the Board with an array of
options instead of just one or two suggestions. Leila agreed and said patrons would probably provide
good feedback to that end as well. Leila wants to explore the net impact to see if it would significantly
affect patron utilization of RCC facilities.
The second thing the Staff presented for Board review is the Fee Waiver Program. Leila presented charts
that illustrate fee waiver utilization (see attached) and provided an overview of the program. Qualifying
patrons get a $150 credit to use across all RCC programs. The patron contributes $5 for each program
and the rest is covered by the $150 fee waiver. Participants that meet the eligibility requirements don’t
always use all of the credit that they receive. There is a considerable amount of unused credit, which is
wiped out at the end of each annual period. Patrons are granted $150/individual/year. Gerald asked for
clarification and Leila explained that the charts show utilization and that the Fee Waiver year doesn’t line
up perfectly with either a calendar or fiscal year due to the cycle of registration dates. She said in
aggregate, they offer a pretty reasonable representation of the amount of money used by patrons in this
program. She explained that ultimately, these charts display about $110,000 in potential unrealized
revenue for RCC (meaning that if the Fee Waiver program didn’t exist, these spots potentially could be
filled by paying patrons for that amount of revenue.)
Leila pointed out that for the summer program, one of the charts shows that five households used more
than $900 in fee waivers. This level of utilization exists because there is no limit on participation for
summer camps for fee waiver patrons. This is due to a long-standing belief by the RCC Board that no
child should be turned away from a summer camp or enrichment offering based on socioeconomic status.
Bill P. said that based on the charts, half or more of the money is used for youth or teens. Of the money
budgeted for Aquatics, he suspects a significant portion is for teens as well. He thinks that is money wellspent.
Leila agreed and said she thinks it’s good to review the program regularly to ensure that it is
serving the people that the Board wanted it to reach when it implemented the program a few years ago.
Gerald pointed out that at the end of the day we’re only talking about $110,000, which is a fraction of our
operating budget. Leila confirmed that the Fee Waiver Program total was just shy of 10 percent of RCC’s
total earned revenue, which she believes is a healthy fiscal relationship. This indicates that 90 percent of
RCC patrons do not need financial support. The Fee Waiver Program ensures a good mixture of
participants across all RCC programs and activities. It accomplishes the center’s mission of promoting full
access to its programs while bringing members of the community together for programming and events.
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