Bottom-Lining the West Deptford Summer Rec Program

For 18 of the 23 years that Greg Ley has worked for the township of West Deptford, the summer recreation program was provided at no cost to local children.

As the red pens started coming out amid a drastic reduction in local ratables, however, everything in the township, from the cost of government to the local school district budget, has come under closer fiscal scrutiny. The summer recreation program is no different.

The six-hour-a-day, six-week program, which runs from June 24 to August 2, provides a wealth of experiences for children, from athletics to performances, as well as extended-day "latch key" programs for children whose parents need extra coverage, day trips to the Philadelphia Zoo, Franklin Institute, and Adventure Aquarium in Camden City.

“I don’t know of any municipalities are putting together a 6-week program like we do,” Ley said.

But a new directive from municipal leaders to try to make the summer rec program turn a profit gives undue weight to financial priorities over what Ley feels its focus ought to be.

Turning a profit?

In 2012, the West Deptford summer recreation program enrolled 245 children at a total cost of $71,179, but generated only $56,080 in revenues, leaving $15,099 in unrecovered costs.

By raising fees to $300 per child this year, the program could generate $73,500 from if it is able to register the same number of children. At $15 per day trip, there's another $1,300 in potential revenues based on last year's figures, and the latchkey program could recover $5,280 more at $10 per child per day.

If those numbers hold, the program would gross $80,080 and net $8,900—but it's contingent on a lot of variables. 

When the program was free, as many as 800 children would enroll annually, Ley said. In the past five years, however, program fees have risen steadily, from an initial $25 to the $300 per child that the 2013 program will cost.

As a result, only 245 signed up last year. There’s no potential for profit in a system that is prohibitively priced.

“Once we started charging, you watched those numbers drop right off the table,” he said.

“Raising the fees, are we going to get to that target number of 250 kids? Because then next year you’re going to hear the program didn’t hit its goal.”

Cost-cutting

At the same time, the operational costs of the summer rec program have been trimmed, Ley said.

The number of staffers has been reduced, as has their pay. Campers no longer receive a t-shirt with their enrollment in the program. Coaches who participate and who run sports clinics through the program now do so on a volunteer basis.

The department also moved to a (mostly) electronic newsletter. By printing only 2,500 newsletters versus the 13,000-copy direct-mail campaign it ran last year, the department shaved $1,952 off its costs.

But in the process, Ley worries that the message might not reach as many residents, which would also lower enrollment (and therefore, revenues).

“My concerns were not reaching the Catholic schoolchildren; not reaching all the residents that may have grandchildren,” he said. “Not everyone owns a computer.”

“Ultimately, [the purpose of the program] was not to make money," he said. “It’s been addressed at township committee meetings that we try to keep it as affordable as we can to working-class families.

“I think people forget we’re still the 6th-lowest tax rate in Gloucester County.”

'Still a potential for a loss'

But even if that’s the case, West Deptford Committeeman Sam Cianfarini still thinks the recreation programs should be leveraged more cost-effectively.

“I believe we probably pay the most in our budget of many of the surrounding towns in recreation-related costs, and I just don’t see that we do it in such a way that it makes sense for the taxpayer,” Cianfarini said.

Even with increasing the costs of the summer recreation program another $50 per head this year, Cianfarini said, “there’s a potential still for a loss."

Comparatively, Cianfarini said, the Plymouth Meeting, PA community center that is a sister facility to the RiverWinds, “has a summer rec program where they make money, and they charge about $600 per kid.

“At $250, our cost is $1.24 an hour to watch your kids,” Cianfarini said. “Tell me where you’re going to get a babysitter and keep them in structured programs. We’ve got daycare centers in our township that are charging many times what we’re charging.

“Why is a government entity cannibalizing its own business entities?” he said. “Why aren’t we looking at outsourcing the actual rec staffing to those businesses in town? Let them prosper. At the same time, they can do this program, which is their business, which they know how to do the best.”

'We're trying to provide an alternative'

But Ley said that comparing the summer recreation program to a daycare is an apples-to-oranges argument.

"Daycares hire certified teaches and pay them accordingly," Ley said. "We hire college students and pay them minimum wage.

“If you divide it hourly, it breaks down to $50 a week,” Ley said, “and you’re not going to find childcare anywhere for $50 a week.”

Even at those numbers, Ley said he still fields calls from parents “who lost a job or can’t afford medical benefits,” and who can’t afford either the summer program or a daycare for their homebound kids.

“I hear from one side that we’re not charging enough and that we’ve got to compete with these businesses in town,” he said.

“I’m not trying to compete with them, but we’re trying to provide an alternative for families that can’t afford a daycare.”