Honolulu’s Summer Fun program is one of the municipal legacies of the late Mayor Frank Fasi’s long tenure in office, something that has simply become part of the city’s recreational landscape. During the weeks of summer when children have more hours and energy to burn than their working parents do, Summer Fun has been an affordable way of keeping the keiki active, fit and entertained in a supervised park setting.
The program was free back when Fasi rolled it out, and so it remained for years. But like other benefits the city tax coffers once afforded (bus fares for seniors also have risen), changing economics and inflation have driven costs up. At $25 — the price in place for the past 22 years — it was still an incredible deal.
Now the City Council is contemplating raising that to $75. While tripling any government fee ordinarily is hard to swallow, this proposal seems defensible, if for no other reason than it keeps a valuable program more sustainable for the long term.
Council members — no doubt leery of pressing such a steep hike during a slow economy and an election year to boot — have suggested fee tiers that are based on income, an idea worth considering. In addition, Department of Parks and Recreation officials said federal aid also enabled no- or low-fee adjustments for low-income families.
Bill 36, the legislation proposing the fee hike, did not draw any public testimony in its first hearing, but it’s sure to do so. Online signups for the 2012 summer session are done, with walk-in registration at the individual parks going on from 9 a.m. to noon today at individual parks. Parents who consider the impact of an extra $50 outlay per child may feel inspired to testify.
While still a bargain for a seven-week recreational program (this year’s calendar runs from June 12 to July 25, with sessions from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. each weekday), many families have multiple children enrolled, and many pay $186 more per child for "Summer Plus" extended hours, through 5:30 p.m. This is no small hit to the household budget.
However, the increase is not so radical considering its longevity, and considering the effects of inflation since 1990. Inflation slowed in recent years, but calculators that use the Consumer Price Index as a measure show that what a 1990 consumer bought for $25 would cost nearly $45 now. Kicking the fee up to $75 still hurts, but it’s not unreasonable after all this time.
Any increase the Council enacts should be in place for the 2013 session, though, not now. Department Director Gary Cabato said some parents already have paid under the current rate, so it would be best not to generate bookkeeping confusion with the current "take effect upon approval" wording.
The city budget is under considerable strain, with taxpayers on account now for all the deferred maintenance of roads and sewers. Increasingly, city services are being expected to be more self-sufficient. The Summer Fun program subsidy now costs the city $6 million annually.
Continuing to run up a bill at that rate is not fiscally sound. Summer Fun is a great city amenity for families — 9,000 children were enrolled last year — and it would be a better policy to put the program on a more sustainable path.