Greensboro Plan2Play Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2019

GREENSBORO PLAN2PLAY MASTER PLAN - 125

Action 5e. Review and define goals for parks and recreation programming to align fees with cost recovery, cost containment and revenue goals. An important step for the Department is to more closely define its cost recovery goals, to ensure balance subsidies and pricing levels across various programs and in reflection of the marketplace and the Department’s own mission. The pricing analysis showed that the Department currently offers its services below fair market value, as compared to both public and private marketplaces. It is clear that the Department is dedicated to community service and affordability is a priority. However, the practice of keeping prices significantly lower than the marketplace may have the effect of harming the brand and the appearance of program quality. Achieving the correct level of cost recovery will assure appropriate funding of program, facility and staffing needs to the extent desired, while still providing accessible services to residents

and promoting a high level of quality. Important considerations and steps are described below. • Evaluate revenue and cost recovery goals - On average, parks and recreation departments recover 28% of their operating budgets through all programs based on current costs and similar provider fees for the same programs. Once the target for cost recovery is determined, the Department should evaluate their facility use and program registration fee structures to determine how to meet revenue and cost recovery goals. • Confirm balance of in-house versus programs and facility revenue. A priority for the Department is to evaluate their revenue and cost recovery goals across

co-sponsored organizations. Typically, parks and recreation departments focus on serving the biggest portion of the population through introductory, recreational, and non-exclusionary level programs while outsourced/ co-sponsored organizations provide competitive or elite programs. • Explore additional opportunities to manage program costs - There are four additional categories for improvement related to program life cycles that should be considered based on current performance, best practices, operational insights, and feedback from staff interviews to manage costs in the future.

○ Adopt cost containment

practices to: track expenses and goods sold: ensure transparency of discounting (ie. to non-profit special events); develop monthly revenue/expense reports; and use a bid structure for major expenses.

outsourced and co-sponsored programs - Beyond the revenue, cost recovery, and fee structure discussed above, the Department should establish the desired level of programming to be offered in- house versus through outsourced/