photo by: Nick Krug

The Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center, pictured Thursday, July 7, 2016.

As the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department plans improvements and additions to its facilities and programs, it’s also planning for an increase in some user fees to fund those additions.

A draft of the Parks and Recreation Department’s 10-year master plan was presented to the City Commission Tuesday, and one of the key finance issues noted in the plan was the need to standardize the pricing process and increase user fees. What percent of costs will be covered by fees versus tax-supported subsidies, though, is yet to be determined.

“I don’t think we can just do one number across the board for all facilities or all programs,” said Commissioner Lisa Larsen, who is a member of the Master Plan Steering Committee. “We’ve got to look at this individually, that’s my preference, and just see what does it bring to the community and what kind of support it has from the community and go from there.”

A 16-member steering committee is in charge of putting together the new 10-year master plan for the Parks and Recreation Department. The master plan will replace one created in 2000 and include guidance for future development and ideas to fund new facilities and programs. As part of that process, the city contracted with GreenPlay LLC in February.

One methodology included in the draft plan is what GreenPlay calls a pyramid philosophy. Using that method, recreation programs and services are sorted into five levels according to how much the program or service benefits the community versus the individual. For each level, the department would determine what percent of the cost it wants the user fee to cover versus what percent it will subsidize.

“This will create a defendable formula that everybody would use to create fees,” Pat O’Toole, a principal with GreenPlay, told commissioners Tuesday. “And it doesn’t mean everything has to be 100 percent self-sufficient either.”

The Parks and Recreation Department currently subsidizes a significant portion of the cost of several programs, such as programming for seniors, entrance to the city’s aquatic centers and programming at the Prairie Park Nature Center. However, the percentage of those subsidies do not have a clear method, ranging from 35 percent for senior programming to 79 percent for nature center programming. Currently, there are also no entrance fees for the city’s various workout facilities.

The draft master plan calls for improvements and additions to programming such as activity offerings, as well as facilities. For facilities, renovation of both existing facilities and new amenities are being recommended. Eagle Bend Golf Course, Holcom Park Center and the Outdoor Aquatics Center each call for more than $1 million of improvements. Other high-dollar projects include an outdoor amphitheater, adventure park and outdoor sports complex. All projects are sorted into short, medium and long-term need.

“For a 10-year plan, I think the goal is to pick these recommendations off as you can afford them,” O’Toole said.

In addition to fees, the plan includes several other potential sources of funding, such as the guest tax, sales tax, voluntary contributions and bond referendum for larger projects. Which of those options will be pursued will be the subject of future study, Larsen said.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that staff will look at how other cities do it, then we’ll bring that all back and again have that conversation with the community,” Larsen said. “We’re not going to make any decisions out of a black box.”

As part of the master planning process, residents were surveyed about what facilities and programs they would like to see and how they would like them to be funded. Those surveyed most supported using a portion of the Transient Guest Tax, the 6 percent tax the city collects on all overnight hotel stays. The second-most supported funding idea was to ask Lawrence residents to voluntarily round up their utility bills to the next dollar.

At their meeting Tuesday, city commissioners indicated they would review and make comments on the draft before it is referred back to the Master Plan Steering Committee.

For the public, the Parks and Recreation Department is accepting comments on the draft plan through Sept. 20. A draft of the plan is available for review on the city’s website. Residents can submit comments via email at parksrec@lawrenceks.org, by calling 832-3450 or by visiting the Parks and Recreation Administrative Office in South Park, 1141 Massachusetts St.