Certain city-managed facilities such as the La Jolla/Riford Library may soon become more pricey to use under a plan by the city of San Diego to raise fees on the use of city facilities.
The city is hoping to close large projected budget deficits -- nearly $1.5 billion over the next five years -- by sharply raising the fees it charges people to swim at a city pool, moor a boat in Mission Bay, rent a library meeting room, reserve a volleyball court or use hundreds of other city services.
People who live outside the city might have to pay more than San Diego residents to use city fields and other popular destinations.
The proposed changes would increase fees an average of 20% and are projected to generate about $25 million a year in city revenue.
San Diego officials say the effort is propelled partly by inflation increasing the city's costs for equipment and maintenance at its facilities and partly to offset the cost of generous pay raises given to nearly all city employees since 2023.
State law prohibits cities and other government agencies from charging users more than it costs to provide a service. But when a government gives its employees substantial pay raises, that increases its costs to deliver the services.
That makes people like Brady Farmer mad.
"The problem is, they're getting pay raises but nothing else is changing," said Farmer, who founded the nonprofit Devoted to Youth and, to raise money for it, organizes several festivals every year at locations throughout San Diego, including the Summer Culture Fest and the Brazilian Day Festival.
"That pay raise means raising fees, which means I have to pay more to put on an event," Farmer said. "It's a trickle effect, and it's not good for the economy and for small businesses."
He said he pays fees for security, rent, parking, cleaning, and use of bathrooms and electricity, as well as environmental fees, all of which can add up to $20,000.
"Now with these fee hikes, it's going to be astronomical," Farmer said.
The fee proposals got mixed reviews from the City Council's budget committee and members of the public earlier this month.
Council members said the roughly $250 million deficit projected for next fiscal year makes it especially important for the city to get fully reimbursed for the services it provides. But they added that new revenue opportunities must be weighed against possible negative effects on merchants and residents.
The city has different fees for general and commercial use of parks, depending on the number of people and type of organization. All are proposed to be raised.
For an event with fewer than 50 people by a nonprofit or government organization, the hourly rate could increase from $1 per location to $1.20. For such an event with 50 or more people, the rate would increase from $10 per hour to $12.
For commercial organizations, the hourly rate for an event with fewer than 50 people could rise from $5 to $6 and the rate for 50 or more people would increase from $15 to $18.
Proposed fee hikes for special events include raising the hourly rate for police services from $89 to $154 for each sworn officer at nonprofit events and from $178 to $205 at for-profit events.
Rate changes also are proposed for use of recreation center and library meeting rooms such as those in La Jolla.
"Regarding changes for patrons, if they want to rent a community room at a [San Diego Public Library] branch ... they will have to pay the rate according to the organization's type (nonprofit, corporate or private)," said city spokeswoman Jennifer McBridge. "A non-refundable cleaning fee will also be established for anyone serving food in community rooms."
Currently, there is no fee for a not-for-profit organization to rent a library meeting room for fewer than 100 people. The proposed hourly fee would be $50 for such a rental. For 100 or more people, the fee would be $100 an hour.
The additional cleaning fee would be $100 per event. The city also is proposing raising the four-hour minimum rental for library space to eight hours.
In addition, McBride said the library is proposing a 25% increase in special-event rates at the Central Library downtown and adding several new fees for cost recovery for requests such as audiovisual assistance, photo shoots and filming.
For those who use the La Jolla library branch for meetings, the proposed rate increase raises concerns.
"I enjoy the library's meeting rooms, as it's comfortable and a great setup for most presenting needs," said Bob Evans, president of the not-for-profit La Jolla Parks & Beaches board, which meets there monthly. "Currently, community nonprofits like us don't pay a fee. If there was some sort of reasonable fee induced, then I expect and hope it would be accountable for our organization. Of course, that decision would be based on our board weighing in, too.
"A greater concern I would have is if the city cuts back on library open hours or general room availability. Then we may really need to scramble. But fortunately there are other meeting sites in the area that can host."
City representatives did not respond to requests for comment about additional ways La Jolla might be affected by the changes.
In many cases, city officials choose to charge less than the total costs, especially for events and programs that serve youths and senior citizens.
Councilman Kent Lee said he was concerned about the proposed fee hikes for special events.
"I would hate [to] see some of the major events in the city -- everything from San Diego Pride down to some of the small cultural events -- impacted in a way that might change how they operate," he said.
Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera said "I would like us to take a much closer look at ... distinguishing between [fees charged to San Diego] residents and non-residents" for use of city-funded venues.
"I don't believe San Diego residents should be subsidizing the play of others," he said.
He noted that La Jolla's Torrey Pines Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the city, already charges non-residents higher fees.
Charles Modica, the city's independent budget analyst, said it might be difficult to figure out what to charge teams in sports leagues that include city residents and non-residents.
Modica said the proposed fee hikes are likely to be considered by the City Council in early March for a possible vote.
Lee said it's difficult to analyze all the possible increases because there are so many at once.
"It's hard to have a full opinion on every single one of them," he said. ♦