City of Penticton fees on their way up

PENTICTON – It's going to cost a little more to stay fit in Penticton next year.

As part of a pre-budget overhaul of city fees and charges, a five per cent increase to recreation, fitness and aquatics was approved by city council for implementation in time for the 2019 budget.

Budget analyst Wesley Renaud told city council at Tuesday’s regular meeting, Aug. 21, the increases will help account for inflation, as recreation fees have not increased since 2015.

Renaud says the fee increases would also ensure the city’s services are competitive with other municipalities, provide a method of cost recovery for the service and will cover the cost differences for changes to billing.

Recreation fee increases include the following:

• Arena rates up by two per cent
• Fitness fees up by five per cent
• Parks and sports fields rentals will rise by two per cent
• Pool fees are proposed to rise by five per cent
• Gymnasium drop in fees up five per cent

Thirty-one city services are affected by the new rates.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.