Pool drop-in fee should be lower

City Council:

The text below is taken from page 19 of the Agenda Report on the pool fees. It concludes that by setting the drop-in fee at $18/20, residents will “do the math” and sign up for the annual pass/summer pass. I think that conclusion is based on the faulty assumption that a resident will use the pool at 5x a month and reflects an “aquatic” mind-set that comes with setting the fee structure for the new aquatic center. There is no consideration in this fee calculation for less frequent, episodic users of the pool, particularly during summer. Those users will likely not be driven by recreational interests but by other factors like heat waves or visiting family. The math will not work for these residents who will be faced with excessively high drop-in fees for use of their community pool.

The other problem with the “do the math” calculation is that it uses $18/20 as the baseline for the drop-in fee. Piedmont frequently uses data from comparable cities to determine taxes and fees but that seems not to have been done in this case. Comparable pool data is not as readily available but below are links to three nearby cities and the associated adult/senior pool drop-in rates. All these municipal pools provide vastly better community pool amenities for adults, seniors and children and at much lower drop-in rates. The average drop-in rates of these three cities are $10 for adults and $7 for seniors, compared to $20 and $18 for Piedmont.

https://www.antiochca.gov/water-park/park-info/ ($17/9)

https://www.albanyaquaticcenter.com/pool-schedule ($7.5/6)

https://www.sanleandro.org/DocumentCenter/View/12446/CSL-SLFAC-Reopening-2025_Activity-Guide ($7/7)

Council should consider lowering the drop-in fee to $10 for adults and $6 for seniors. Slightly higher fees could be charged to non-residents. Given that most municipal pools charge considerably lower drop-in rates than Piedmont, Piedmont’s proposed drop-in fees send an exclusionary message not appropriate for our community.

Agenda Report page 19:

“A key element in creating a pool pass model is setting the drop-in rate. The price of a daily drop-in rate essentially drives whether someone would buy an annual or summer pass or just use daily drop-in option. When considering whether to buy a pass, purchasers “do the math,” factoring in their estimated use of the pool each week or month, cost of the drop-in rate and the cost of the pool pass. For example, if someone estimates they will visit the pool 5x/month they will look to see which is a better deal—to pay the drop-in rate each time or buy a pass. If the drop-in rate is $18/visit that would be $90/month and the Pool Pass is equivalent to $74/month, buying an annual pass would be the better deal. If the drop-in rate is low and pool pass rates are high, people will “do the math” and opt for the drop-in option. With the increase in the non-resident pass rates, we anticipate an increase in non-resident drop-ins based on projected decrease in nonresident pass purchases.”