Prince Albert city council kept the 2026 recreation rate increase at five percent after rejecting a proposal to raise fees by ten percent during budget deliberations on Thursday. The decision under agenda Item 5.6.24 (Rates and Fees – City Facilities and Programs) covers rates and fees for Parks, Recreation and Culture facilities, including arenas, sports fields, aquatics and the Alfred Jenkins Field House.
Coun. Daniel Brown opened the discussion by asking what would happen if council doubled the recommended increase. He said his goal was to shift more of the cost of recreation onto users instead of general taxpayers.
“I would like to lower our subsidy rates of what the city is paying and all the residents are paying,” Brown said. “Probably a majority of them aren’t using these facilities, so I would like to put more onus on the users, so changing from five to 10% it would probably go to like three to four dollars each” He added that admission fees for children are still low and told council he did not think “a couple extra bucks” would be unreasonable.
Several councillors said they could not support a ten percent hike. Coun. Tony Head told the meeting that five percent was already a significant increase.
“I thought 5% was a lot already for residents to bear,” he said. “We need to find a balance to ensure people are attending our facilities as well, and I do not want to price them out either.”
Coun. Dawn Kilmer stressed the city’s commitment to access for youth and seniors.
“We want our seniors and our kids in the facilities as active as possible,” she said. Kilmer also warned that changing the philosophy around user fees and non-resident charges too quickly could send “mixed messages” about the city’s direction.
Coun. Blake Edwards said he might consider targeted increases in specific areas, such as ice rentals, but not a blanket change.
“To blanket a 10% increase across this budget, I’m not in favor of at all,” Edwards said. He pointed to drop-in use at the Alfred Jenkins Field House and said council needed to be fair to lower income families who rely on affordable options.
Coun. Darren Solomon linked the discussion to wider pressures on household budgets.
“We need a variety of things, and not everybody is going to use everything, but we do need things for everybody,” he said. “By increasing up to 10% you’re starting to price out certain families and certain people, and that’s not what I would encourage.”
Coun. Stephen Ring said council was focusing too much on revenue and not enough on internal efficiencies.
“I thought a better direction would be looking at finding efficiencies in the expenses,” Ring said. He argued that the department’s large salary and wage lines should be examined before asking users to pay more.
Brown later moved to table the item so administration could bring back options based on a ten percent model. The tabling motion was defeated, and council instead confirmed the five percent increase and directed the department to find a combined fifty thousand dollars through revenue changes and expense reductions.
Mayor Bill Powalinsky told council the decision needed to reflect both cost recovery and household realities. He said the city has worked to improve cost recovery at its facilities, but “it is about a balance,” and he could not support a ten percent jump for individual users this year.
Youth and senior discounts will remain in place for 2026, and children under six will continue to access facilities at no cost.
On Day Two, council also worked through winter operations and snow management, looking at reserve pressures and a possible levy to steady funding. Members compared overtime costs with hiring contractors and dealt with updates in streets, facilities and parks. The discussion stayed focused on keeping costs down and making sure core services remain reliable.
