Las Vegas to raise swimming fees

Sito Negron

Thursday, Jan. 22, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.

Karen Barra said she doesn't mind paying more for swimming lessons if the money goes toward improving services. But the Summerlin resident, who Wednesday took her 10-year-old daughter to the Las Vegas Municipal Pool, where fees are to go up over the next several months, had another concern.

"Kids from the neighborhood come all summer," Barra said of the central Las Vegas pool, located on Bonanza Road near Las Vegas Boulevard North. "They don't have any money."

Las Vegas City Council Wednesday voted to raise some fees at two swimming pools generally used by the entire valley, and set up a three-tiered payment system for its other community and recreation centers that requires people living in more affluent neighborhoods to pay more for some services.

The fees kick in over the next months, and ought to be fully implemented by June 30.

At Municipal Pool, Mary Killion, a field supervisor for the city, explained that the fee increase will only apply to selected programs. Open swimming, she said, would remain as is.

"It's not our policy to turn people away," she said. "If a kid wants to go swimming, they can go swimming."

The vote in favor of the fee increase was preceded by council members praising Barbara Jackson, director of the Leisure Services Department, which oversees the pools and recreation centers in the city.

"I just want to commend you all for being brave enough to do this," Councilman Lawrence Weekly said.

People "want more classes, and the reality is it costs more to expand the classes," said Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald, who compared the increases to the cost of a Happy Meal. "That's the context for me," she said of the plan, estimated to raise about $600,000 a year.

The increases would come in two categories. One would raise the price of entry at two regional pools and increase the cost of the Safekey program, both of which serve the entire city, according to backup material for the council meeting.

A one-month pass for one person at the pools -- Pavilion Center and the Municipal Pool -- would go from $20 to $30. The Safekey program, which cares for children, would increase 15 percent. The dollar amount depends on how many children are enrolled and when; for one child in the morning the cost would go from $8 to $10.

The other category is where the prices differ depending on where a resident lives. Those areas would be identified in three tiers, based on average annual incomes. For a $20,000 to $35,000 total income, fees won't go up. For incomes of $35,001-$50,000, fees increase 10 percent. And for an income of more than $50,000, fees would go up 15 percent.

Under the proposal, fees would go up 15 percent for recreational activities at three community schools in Ward 6, two in Ward 4, and three in Ward 2. Fees would go up 10 percent at two community schools in Ward 5, one in Ward 3, and two in Ward 1. Also, fees would go up by 10 percent at two pools -- Garside and Cragin -- in Ward 1.