Cordova weighs charging nonprofits for its pool, rec center and fields

Cordova's Parks and Recreation Commission debated Tuesday whether nonprofits should pay to use the city pool, recreation center and fields, but took no vote. The Cordova City Council is scheduled to take up the question at a work session this week.

The decision shapes the 2027 Parks and Recreation fee schedule, which Parks and Recreation Director Samantha Hagerthy-Schneider said must go to the council by December. The council has three options: keep charging nonprofits nothing, require a council-set portion of the facility rate or phase in a council-set contribution over three years, starting in 2027 and reaching a cap in 2029.

Hagerthy-Schneider laid out those options at the council's Oct. 21 work session, where she put typical nonprofit use of city facilities and parks at about $45,000 a year, as Alaska News reported Oct. 21.

Hagerthy-Schneider said charges have been inconsistent, with some nonprofits billed and others not. "It's picking and choosing, and I'm going to use the words, I don't think it's fair," she said. The city's 2026 fee schedule lists a rental rate of 25% of the standard rate for verified nonprofits, including at the pool.

She said nonprofits that rent a facility regularly ask why others are not charged. She said paying public swimmers also lose pool time to nonprofit groups that don't pay.

Commission member Kelsey Hayden said the charges should be consistent. She proposed the Cordova Center model as a base, which she said gives nonprofits a 15% discount and tribal groups 10%, plus separate agreements for groups such as Little League and the Iceworm Swim Team. Nonprofits with paid staff and event budgets can afford fees that all-volunteer groups cannot, she said. Of the pool, she said, "that is truly like the heart of Cordova."

Hayden said, "I was surprised that the fee schedule went to city council before we had even had a chance to discuss it." The commission is advisory. Hagerthy-Schneider said the fee schedule had not gone to the council; she had sought council direction on nonprofit charges before drafting it. Another commission member said members want to work together on decisions rather than first seeing them in council packets.

The director said the fee schedule does not have to pass through the commission but promised to email the draft to members. Hayden offered to call a special meeting so the commission can weigh in before the council acts.