Plan triples summer fun program fee

A key City Council committee advanced a proposal Wednesday to triple the fee for the city’s Summer Fun program to $75 from $25.

While there appears to be general support for the plan, questions about the amount of the increase, who it would be affected and when it would kick in remain unresolved after the Council Budget Committee voted 5-0 for the measure.

Bill 36 calls for the fee to go to $75 for the full seven-week program, which is scheduled to run from June 12 to July 25 at more than 60 sites islandwide.

City Parks Director Gary Cabato told committee members that increasing the fee would help recoup the program’s, which runs about $6 million annually. But he also warned Council members that any increase would be accompanied by a drop in enrollment.

The program was free until 1990 when it had nearly 30,000 participants, Cabato said. When the $25 fee was imposed, enrollment dropped by half.

"Some families couldn’t afford it," he said, especially those with more than one child enrolled.

About 9,000 children participated last summer.

While some may consider the program a bargain, the fee doesn’t include the optional field trips to such attractions as the Honolulu Zoo, Wet’n’Wild Water Park and Ice Palace Hawaii, Cabato said.

Nor does it take into consideration that some families pay extra to have their children on site 2.5 hours beyond the formal 2:30 p.m. end of the formal Summer Fun day.

Councilman Breene Harimoto suggested a two-tiered fee system based on household income. Cabato and Harimoto’s colleagues appeared receptive to the idea.

Cabato said several hundred children already pay a reduced fee or no fee based on federal low-income standards, which also allow them to receive free meals.

Councilman Romy Cachola said he could not support a tripling the fee during a tough economic period, which may discourage many low-income families in his Iwilei-to-Halawa district from participating.

"They’re having a hard time making a go," said Cachola, one of several committee members who voted "with reservations" to move the bill forward.

Councilman Nestor Garcia, who introduced the bill, said he was amenable to a two-tiered fee system.

Garcia said he views the program cost as a user fee that has remained unchanged for too long. Like many other programs, he said, more of the cost should be picked up by those who benefit.

In its current form, the bill calls for the fee increase to take effect this year.

Cabato, however, said many families have already sent in checks for the upcoming program.

Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said the effective date can be changed as the bill moves forward, as can the cost and whom it affects.

"I really worry about the $75, but I think we can always adjust it after it comes back to our committee," she said.

No one from the public testified on the bill Wednesday.