RiverWinds Budget Concerns Top Committee Meeting

Financial matters topped the agenda at the March meeting of the West Deptford Township Committee, and foremost among them was the issue of bringing the RiverWinds Community Center out of the red.

Bill list 

Committeeman Sam Cianfarini asked questions about a number of financial items on the Township budget, including refunds of RiverWinds membership costs.

Township administrator Eric Campo pointed out that the current contract for West Deptford police and firefighters allows for the full cost of a family membership to be reimbursed. RiverWinds employees also enjoy a 75 percent reimbursement of the cost of a family membership, he said. 

“Do we do anything like what corporate America does where there’s a validation that you’re actually using that membership for the refund to occur?” Cianfarini asked.

“We don’t have a criteria that you have to use it for so many days,” Campo said. “We certainly can look at that, but it would be a formal policy change.”

Revenue generation

In the last four years, said RiverWinds Advisory Board (RWAB) Chair Jeff Hansen, the facility fell short of making its costs by a combined $282,926. Expanding membership opportunities to non-Township residents, he pointed out, defrayed those costs by some $120,000 since that initiative was begun. 

Shortfall

$29,166

By increasing the age until which a member would be eligible for a senior discount, Hansen said, the facility could recoup even more money—anywhere from $19,000 to $42,000 annually.

Among its current enrollment, 17.9 percent of members are aged 50-61, Hansen reported; 665 are aged 50-54. Senior single residents would pay as much as $143.50 more annually under the proposed plan.

If the rates had been in effect when the new enrollment opportunities were made available to non-residents, Hansen argued, the RiverWinds could have generated an additional $32,158. The facility fell short of break-even costs by $29,166 in 2012.

The RWAB also recommended that a two-month open enrollment period be enacted before increasing the fees for seniors younger than 62. Existing members would be grandfathered in as long as they are in good standing with the center, Hansen said.

'$3.5 million is a killer'

Committeewoman Denice DeCarlo expressed concerns that singling out seniors for a rate increase could potentially affect the financial stability of residents in that community, and suggested a 2 percent general fee increase for all members.

“I will certainly support an increase; I’m not certain I’m sold on singling out the 55-and-older [community],” DeCarlo said.

Mayor Ray Chintall pointed out that even if the facility is brought up to break-even costs, the debt service on the RiverWinds costs the average West Deptford household $300 (for a home assessed at $208,000**).

“$3.5 million is a killer on each and every homeowner,” Chintall said, “so how do we get over that?”

Committeeman Cianfarini asked Hansen and to “accelerate your consideration of the general fee increase, possibly at a presentation for our next meeting, so we can take action on both [the increase and the age adjustment] at the same time.”

Moose Juice 

RVAB also recommended that the Committee formally consider awarding an exclusive contract for the creation of a juice bar at RiverWinds to Tobey Karpicz of the Woodbury Heights-based Moose Juice Bar. 

Leased or rented, a key condition of that proposal, according to Hansen's presentation, would be that the bar "will have a positive revenue income to RiverWinds Community Center."

**Correction: According to Chintall, the average assessed value of a house in the township was $208,000 at the time of the last assessment, not $235,000, as was initially reported.

"The $235,000 figure is what each assessed “penny” is approximately worth, as compared to $250,000 [in 2012]," Chintall wrote in an e-mail to Patch.

The difference in those numbers, he explained is the result of a reassessment, after which the ratable base of the Township decreased by some $200 million as a result of tax appeals. Patch will explore these issues in future reporting.