I got this in my Inbox just before Christmas but held off on reporting about it until I had a better understanding of exactly how it would affect us. I’m not really sure I know now what it’s affect will be, but here goes …

Information Bulletin

To: City of Guelph Outdoor Facility Users
From: Murray Cameron– Manager of Parklands and Greenways
Department: Operations

RE: 2010 Operating Budget

We write to follow up on our information bulletin of November 25, 2009, wherein we advised that Council was considering a number of rate increases in an effort to deal with a difficult budget. We thank those who took the time to appear as a delegation, or to contact the Mayor and Council in this regard.

In preparation for the budget staff restructured our proposed rates and fees, and we are attaching a copy of the new rates and fees with this bulletin. In our view these new rates continue to represent good value and our very competitive with the rates in surrounding communities.

A decrease in the Youth Subsidy from 47.5% to 40% was considered by Council, but was rejected, so approved youth groups will continue to enjoy the youth subsidy throughout 2010.

Please be aware that although these rates come into effect on January 1, 2010, all existing signed contracts will be honoured at the stated rate.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

Murray Cameron
Manager
Parklands and Greenways
Operations

Also attached to that message was a Fee Schedule that had some rather disconcerting information.

Upon first reading the updated fees, it appeared that we would be hit with a very substantial increase in our diamond costs due to a revision in how they made their calculations. More specifically, in years past we have always received a discounted rate when renting more diamonds – the cost for 1 diamond was about $60, while booking all 4 only came to about $110.

The new way of doing things is to rent each diamond individually and by the hour – with no allowance for a bulk discount.

While the League Executives have yet to get together and analyze the full impact of these changes, subsequent communications back and forth have eased some of our fears and I feel confident we can come out of this without feeling TOO much of an impact. Some changes will need to be made in our approach to diamond usage but, until we’ve had a chance to look at this a little more in-depth, we will continue to plan for the coming season as we have in years past.

More information will be available when we begin the League Meetings.