Hold your wallets. The city government has a new approach to delivering services, and it involves your money.
Next month, Alexandria officials will launch a new "cost recovery" model for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. City officials have designated services to one of five levels on a pyramid. Those at the bottom of the pyramid are provided for by the city government at 100 percent while those at the top are paid for by the consumer.
"Fees aren't new in the city," said William Chesley, deputy director of the department. "Now we have a process for assigning a place on the cost-recovery pyramid to begin to look at what fees should be assessed and what percentage of that particular program or experience should be taxpayer supported."
City officials say cost-recovery programs are already standard practice in many cities throughout the country. In a letter City Manager Rashad Young sent to City Council members last year, he pointed out that the national benchmark for cost recovery for parks and recreation departments is 34 percent. In Alexandria, by contrast, he pointed out the cost recovery is 12 percent.
"Those programs and services with the highest community benefit will receive the highest subsidy," said the city manager, "while those programs and services with an individual benefit will receive little or no subsidy and will pay a user fee."
PLANNING FOR the city's new cost-recovery program began back in 2011, when a needs assessment was conducted for parks and recreation centers in Alexandria. The next year city officials conducted a focus group. The idea was to lay the groundwork for determining which services city officials could start charging for instead of offering for free. Back in May, members of the City Council approved incorporating the cost-recovery model into the budget. That means the new fee structure will begin on July 1.
"All of our various programs and services have been sorted by the public and placed at a level on the pyramid," said Chesley. "So if a service was put on level three, which is in the middle, the tax subsidy there would be 50 percent to the individual and 50 percent to the taxpayer."