Vancouver Park Board commissioners approved the 2019 budget Monday night, including a request to city council for additional funds to help maintain the city’s parks and gardens.
The budget, which includes $128.12 million in operating costs and $63.75 million in capital spending, will be presented to council Tuesday for consideration along with the overall budget for the city. Council will hear from staff and the public before making a decision Dec. 18.
Council has the final say over the park board’s budget and councillors have the ability to make adjustments before approving the annual operating and capital budget for the park board.
Along with approving the proposed spending for operational and capital costs, commissioners added in a request for an additional $610,000 to “enable service improvements to Vancouver parks with a focus on horticulture, cleanliness and safety…”
Last week, commissioners unanimously approved a motion, brought forward by commissioner John Coupar, asking staff to report back with how much additional money would be needed to increase care and maintenance in parks and gardens.
A staff memo in response to the request outlines that an additional $610,000 — $340,000 for staffing costs and $270,000 for materials — would be needed on a permanent basis to improve horticultural service standards.
“Park maintenance standards have slipped over the past decade due to insufficient funding from the city,” Coupar said Monday. “I’m very happy to see how quickly staff have responded to my motion… The funding recommendation they’ve brought forward is very reasonable and will lead to immediate improvements in our parks if council agrees.”
The memo states that the park operations budget has only seen an annual average increase of 1.3 per cent over the last five years. Over that same time, the park operations department “has been significantly impacted by the emerging issues of homelessness and public realm disorder. These issues have resulted in increased public complaints over park cleanliness and safety.”
As a result funding earmarked for horticulture has been diverted to more basic services, such as garbage clean up.
“In addition, highly skilled labour is also being called upon to address these issues, among others, resulting in a noted decrease in acceptable horticultural service standards,” the memo reads.
Fees and charges
The proposed $128,124,176 operating budget for 2019 will be funded by an estimated $61,597,742 in revenues brought in through user fees and other charges, and $66,526,434 in tax-based revenue transferred from city hall.
Commissioners approved an average fee increase of 0.9 per cent for 2019, with a few exceptions. Commissioners voted to keep single-visit admission prices for pools, rinks and fitness centres at 2018 levels. While fees for Flexipasses and most 10-visit passes are going up by between 0.9 and two per cent.
Commissioners also voted to change the age designations for the pre-school and child categories for fees. For 2019, the “pre-school” category will include kids aged up to four years old (previously it was 0 to two) and “child” will be ages five to 12. Pre-school aged children are generally admitted for free, while kids aged five to 12 get a 50 per cent discount off the adult (19 to 64) admission. Youth (13 to 18 years old) and seniors (65 and up) get a 30 per cent discount.
All the changes to fees and charges will go into effect Jan. 1.
@JessicaEKerr
jkerr@vancourier.com
