photo by: Bremen Keasey

Lawrence’s Parks, Recreation and Culture department is currently developing a plan to add entry fees to its recreation centers, and staff expects to present a plan to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board in June.

As part of a budget update on Monday, Luis Ruiz, the PRC director, told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board that he had directed staff to create a plan for entry fees at the city’s recreation centers. In March, Ruiz told the same board that fees will be necessary to keep much of the department’s programming going in the face of cuts the city and department will likely be facing, as the Journal-World reported.

Ruiz told the advisory board Monday night that the city’s target number to cut in the PRC budget for 2026 was around $1.8 million — about 10% of the general fund operating expenses for the department. The city has to reduce its general fund operating budget by $6.6 million in 2026, as the Journal-World reported.

The topic of increasing or expanding programming fees for the parks and rec department is something city leaders have been discussing all year as part of their 2026 budget planning. In initial budget discussions, the City Commission directed the department to take a look at increasing fees, as the Journal-World reported. The addition of fees is also a recommendation in the department’s Master Plan, which the commission approved in March.

Ruiz said the estimates of what the department could add in revenue by implementing new sets of fees would be about $500,000. Part of the plan is creating different fee structures for residents, including monthly or annual plans for people who use the recreation centers. He said that this number is a lower number than what consultants estimated the department could recoup based on national trends and similar municipalities.

photo by: City of Mesa, Arizona

Luis Ruiz

As part of the fee plan, Ruiz said the department was looking to ensure that rates would be fair, that they would not increase dramatically and that they would not serve as a barrier to the department’s services. He said the department would look at ways to create more scholarship opportunities for people, but with the current budget situation, the department needs more revenue to offset deeper cuts.

“Two things are realities: we need to charge fees, and we need to make it accessible for those who cannot pay,” Ruiz said.

This is not the first time in recent years that the idea of increasing fees for parks and recreation programs has been discussed. In January 2023, the department proposed $3 daily entry fees for adults at the city’s four recreation centers — Sports Pavilion Lawrence, Holcom Park Recreation Center, the East Lawrence Recreation Center and the Lawrence Community Building — as well as the Prairie Park Nature Center, with monthly and annual membership options also available. After public outcry, the advisory board voted that same month against the proposal, as the Journal-World reported, but did approve a proposal that raised parks and recreation program fees by anywhere between 10% and 60%.

Ruiz said he wants to be sure the public is involved so as not to “go down the same road” as the last proposal to introduce fees. Unlike the past fee discussion when the city had a surplus, the department needs to make cuts. Ruiz said without adding fees, it would mean the elimination of more programs.

“Right now we’re at a $1.8 million deficit,” Ruiz said. “(Adding fees) will allow us to only eliminate $1.3 million instead of $1.8 million.”