MEEWASIN MONEY WOES
Are rink user fees an option?
It could be time to start charging people to use Saskatoon’s popular downtown outdoor skating rink, a city councillor says.
Coun. Bev Dubois floated the idea of a user fee during a discussion at city hall on Monday over contributing $45,000 in the 2018 budget to helping the struggling Meewasin Valley Authority operate the rink.
“The world is changing and not everything is free anymore,” Dubois said at a city council committee meeting. Dubois noted the Mendel Art Gallery used to be free and its replacement, the new Remai Modern, charges admission.
Coun. Troy Davies suggested the city should consider taking over running the rink, but city hall staff said the cost for the city to run the rink would be 10 per cent to 15 per cent higher.
The planning, development and community services committee voted to recommend council approve the $45,000 to help operate the rink during year-end budget talks. The city approved one-time spending of $40,000 in the 2017 budget, too. Overall, the City of Saskatoon’s 2017 budget included $1,043,400 for the MVA.
Doug Porteous, the MVA’s acting CEO, said the cost of implementing a fee could be more than the actual amount collected. The rink, located in Kiwanis Memorial Park north of the Delta Bessborough Hotel, is expected to cost about $62,000 to operate over the coming winter.
Porteous noted the MVA collects about $2,300 in annual donations from people using the rink. The MVA also attracts sponsorship money for upgrades in exchange for naming rights, like a $350,000 contribution from PotashCorp and a $250,000 contribution from Cameco.
Tim Hortons also supplies $20,000 a year for operational costs.
If the city were running the rink, the collective agreements covering city employees and other factors would increase the cost, the committee heard.
However, Davies wondered whether the survival of the rink should be left to the MVA, given the financial challenges the nonprofit agency faces as a result of provincial funding cuts.
“It’s just something we should take responsibility for,” Davies said.
The city used to run the outdoor rink, but the MVA took it over in 1980, a year after the agency was formed as a partnership between the city, the province and the University of Saskatchewan. The rink has become one of the MVA’s most visible contributions.
“It’s absolutely an essential part of our winter experience in the city,” Mayor Charlie Clark said.
Porteous said Meewasin is struggling with a 17-per-cent reduction in funding for 2018.
He pointed to the MVA’s accomplishments, such as its 80 kilometres of multi-use trails. The rink attracts more than 27,000 visitors a year.
“Even with all these successes, Meewasin’s funding continues to be unpredictable,” Porteous said.
Coun. Darren Hill asked about the possibility of surveying the five candidates running to become Saskatchewan Party leader and the two candidates vying to become NDP leader on their support for the MVA.
Dubois, who sits on the MVA board, said such a survey is in the works.