Residents who use Rancho Bernardo’s city-owned recreational facilities will be paying more after the San Diego City Council finalized steep hikes on March 3 in a wide variety of city fees.
The increases, which average about 20% and are estimated to generate roughly $25 million a year, will help close a projected budget deficit of more than $250 million.
In addition to finalizing the increases, the City Council also voted to start raising fees once a year instead of once every three years.
The change will mean more money more quickly for the city, but council members focused instead on the yearly updates softening the sticker shock some residents feel when a fee gets raised sharply after three years.
For example, for sports leagues operating within the city, the per team use of the gym inside the Rancho Bernardo-Glassman Recreation Center will increase from $26 to $31 for youth teams and from $111 to $133 for adult teams, according to a chart provided by the city.
The same prices for youth and adult teams were also approved for unlit fields like those in Rancho Bernardo Community Park, while lighted fields for adult teams would see their prices go up from $138 to $165.
Hourly rental for sports programs were also approved. Field rentals for youth teams would go from $11.25 to $13, while adult teams would see their cost go from $26 to $31. If teams need field lights, the hourly rate will go up by $2, from $9 to $11.
These prices apply to all facilities citywide.
The user fee to access the city-owned pool in Carmel Mountain Ranch will also be going up slightly. A one-time pass for children (under age 16) and seniors (over age 62) will go up by a quarter, from $2 to $2.25, while a 30 visits swim pass will rise from $40 to $48. Adult passes (over age 16) will go up by $1, from $4 to $5, while the 30 visits pass will rise from $80 to $96.
San Diego Civic Dance Arts classes, taught in recreation centers citywide including Rancho Bernardo and Carmel Mountain Ranch/Sabre Springs, are slated to go from $41 per student per session to $49.
The hourly fee for nonprofits, non-commercial and commercial groups who use recreation centers and other buildings outside of Balboa Park will also pay more.
For example, the hourly rate is going from $6 to $7 for nonprofits to use a meeting or activity room, while noncommercial groups will see their hourly rate rise from $55 to $66. Commercial hourly rates will go up from $83 to $99.
There will also be higher fees for those who want to use an auditorium or gymnasium for non-athletic use, a kitchen, need additional operating hours or use the facility during non-hours of operation.
The cost to obtain a permit for special events, or hourly rate for city personnel such as police or firefighters, is also slated to go up. This will impact events such as Rancho Bernardo’s Spirit of the Fourth festivities held on Independence Day and the RB Alive street fair.
A special events fireworks/pyrotechnics permit is going up from $292 to $327, while new fees are being proposed for carnivals and fairs. They are $327 for events attracting crowds of 50 to 500, $409 for crowds of 501 to 2,500 and $49 for those up to 10,000. The current permit fee of $38 for carnivals and fairs attracting more than 10,000 is going from $438 to $654.
Spirit of the Fourth President Dave Brooks said he is not surprised, as he has seen event costs going up.
“The Special Event Permit fee has been unchanged since 2018,” Brooks said, noting last year all permits combined cost $1,535. “However, the fees paid to the San Diego Fire Department increased from $402 in 2018 to $1,266 in 2024. That’s 315%.”
He said the fire department fees included a permit for fireworks, public assembly, tent and temporary structure permit, a processing fee and hourly costs for on-site personnel.
In addition, Brooks said Spirit of the Fourth’s police costs rose 52% over the past six years. In 2018, the cost was $2,677. Last year, paying for police and traffic officers on site cost $4,056.
While confident the nonprofit organization will be able to cover the increases for 2025, Brooks said he is more concerned about simultaneously losing tens of thousands in city and county grant money that help cover a significant portion of the costs. He said he has been given a heads-up by government officials that the grants might be significantly smaller or not be awarded in future years due to budgetary constraints.
Councilmember Vivian Moreno voted against the fee increases, contending that low-income residents in her South Bay district can’t deal with steep increases as so many other consumer costs are rising.
Moreno also suggested that fees could be varied geographically, with people in lower-income areas paying less than people in higher-income areas. City officials said they could explore that concept.
A last-minute change was exempting nonprofits within San Diego County from sharp increases to police and fire fees paid by groups that organize special events.
For-profit organizers and nonprofits from outside the county are facing sharp fee hikes that the Padres, ArtWalk San Diego and other organizations have complained about.
City officials said fees are going up so steeply because of generous pay raises won by nearly all city employees in 2023. State law prohibits cities and other government agencies from charging users more than it costs them to provide a service. But when a city gives its employees substantial pay raises, that increases its costs to deliver the service.
Other factors in the increases are inflation raising the costs the city pays for equipment it uses and hiking the city’s costs to maintain its fields and buildings.
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