05.08.13 OSBT Tag Program Fee Memo final
CITY OF BOULDER
OPEN SPACE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AGENDA ITEM
MEETING DATE: May 8, 2013
AGENDA TITLE
Consideration of a motion regarding registration fees for the Voice and
Sight Tag Program.
PRESENTER/S
Michael D. Patton, Director, Open Space and Mountain Parks
Mark D. Gershman, Environmental Planning Supervisor
Stephen B. Armstead, Environmental Planner
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Open Space Board of Trustees (OSBT) discussed and recommended to the Boulder City
Council a package of enhancements to the Voice and Sight Tag (Tag) Program on April 10,
2013. In the discussion of program fees, staff proposed that the cost for attending the
information session be a separate fee to cover the cost of the information session. A specific fee
amount was not proposed, but was thought to be in the five to ten dollar range. OSBT members
recommended including the cost of attending the information session as part of the program
registration fees. With only limited information on the potential cost of the information session
available, the OSBT recommendation to City Council allowed latitude for determining the fees
by setting a registration fee amount not to be excee
Staff is returning to the OSBT with cost estimate information for the information session and a
recommendation for revising the proposed Tag Program registration fees.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff proposes that the Open Space Board of Trustees revise the recommendation to the
Boulder City Council that the Voice and Sight Tag Program be modified with the
program enhancement listed below:
Program registration fees:
City of Boulder residents ($13),
Boulder County residents outside the City of Boulder ($33),
Non-Boulder County residents ($75).
AGENDA ITEM 6 PAGE 1
COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENTS AND IMPACTS
Economic Overall economic impacts on the business community are unknown. Businesses
and organizations providing dog training services may benefit from dog guardians seeking
training services to increase skills beneficial to voice and sight control.
Environmental The Tag Program was identified in the VMP as a way to reduce adverse
effects to OSMP ecological and agricultural resources by increasing the level of compliance
with voice and sight requirements.
Social Enhancements to the Tag Program are intended to both support enduring changes
that will sustain a high-quality visitor experience retaining valued voice and sight control
opportunities and reducing behaviors that contribute to visitor conflict.
PUBLIC COMMENT AND PROCESS
OSMP has received over 300 responses to provided feedback about the Tag Program. These
1
include both general comments and comments specifically about program enhancement options.
The OSBT have held two public hearings on Oct. 10, 2012 and April 10, 2013 in conjunction
with recommending Tag Program enhancements.
This item is being heard as part of a public meeting advertised in the Daily Camera on Sunday,
May 5, 2013.
BACKGROUND
The OSBT held two public hearings on Oct. 2012 and April 2013 in recommending a package of
Tag Program enhancements to City Council. In the discussion of program fees, staff proposed
that the cost for attending the information session be a separate fee. A fee was not proposed, but
was thought to be in the five to ten dollar range to cover the cost of administering the sessions.
OSBT members were interested in including the cost of the information session as part of the
recommended registration fees. With limited information on the potential cost of the information
session available, the OSBT recommendation included program registration fees not to exceed
$20 for City of Boulder residents and a fee not to exceed $40 for Boulder County residents
which would include the cost for attending the information session. The OSBT recommended
that the registration fee for out of county residents would not be increased beyond the
recommended $75.
ANALYSIS
The OSBT direction was to:
a)Incorporate the costs of the information session into the registration fee, and
b)Spread the costs of the information session across the fees for City of Boulder residents and
other Boulder County residents.
In response, staff investigated how the information session could be structured and estimated
costs. The major expenses for an information session are:
1.OSMP staff time,
The compendium of comments is lengthy (191 pp.) and was not included in the packet. It is available on the
OSMP Website at http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/files/openspace/pdf_VMP/overarching/12-
1113_Council_Study_Session_Compendium.pdf.
AGENDA ITEM 6 PAGE 2
2.Expenses for scheduling and registering attendance,
3.Expenses for a group meeting space, and
4.Materials and supplies.
The staff time necessary for hosting and presenting information at the sessions had already been
factored into the program cost estimate and integrated into program fee recommendations.
Expenses for the remaining items were not.
Under staff original model, expenses for session scheduling and registration would be borne by
an external party collaborating with offering the information sessions. Open Space and
Mountain Parks currently uses a free online event registration and scheduling service for other
purposes. This may be suitable for the Tag Program information sessions. Until it is determined
that this system is not suitable for the needs of the Tag Program information sessions, staff does
not propose additional scheduling/registration expenses.
Group meeting space for hosting the information sessions would likely consist of sites managed
by the city with little or no associated expenses. On occasion, OSMP may need to rent space.
Staff has integrated space rental in the cost estimate.
information session to foster an interactive and high quality setting. Increasing the number of
participants could be possible if demand warrants larger information sessions. Educational
materials, videos and other information will be needed for enhancing the presented information.
A one dollar ($1.00) per person cost is adequate to cover this expense. The cost of providing an
information session for 35 individuals is summarized in Table 1.
Table 1: Cost Estimate for an Information Session
Cost Component Quantity Hours Cost Rate Total
Group Meeting Space 1 2 $20 per hour $40
Information Materials and
35 $1 per person $35
Supplies
Total Cost $75
The estimated cost per person for 35 participants would be $2.14 to attend an information
session. However, since the OSBT recommended that registration fees not be increased for out
of county residents, the fee increase for others must be increased sufficiently to cover the
expenses of the information session for out of county residents. An increase of three dollars
($3.00) per person for the remaining participants (City of Boulder residents and Boulder County
residents outside the City of Boulder) is required to recover the cost of the information sessions.
The proposed registration fee increases are summarized in Table 2.
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Table 2: Recommended Tag Program Registration Fees
Boulder County
City of Boulder Residents Outside
Fee Residents Outside
Residents Boulder County
the City of Boulder
Program
$10 $13 $30 $33 $75 (no change)
Registration
Adding the information session increases the overall program implementation cost from
$701,000 to $734,000. The estimated ongoing annual cost would increase from $131,000 to
$135,000. This cost inclusion will only slightly increase the number of years to cost recovery
for all participation level projections.
SUMMARY
Staff recommends that the program registration fees for City of Boulder Residents and Boulder
County residents outside the City of Boulder be $13 and $33 respectively to include the cost of
the information session (see Attachment A). These amounts reflect a $3 increase to both the
original staff recommendation of $10 for City of Boulder residents and $30 for Boulder County
residents.
Submitted by:
__________________________
Michael D. Patton, Director
__________________________
Mark D. Gershman, Planning Supervisor
__________________________
Stephen B. Armstead, Environmental Planner
ATTACHMENTS:
A: OSBT Tag Program Registration Fee Recommendation
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ATTACHMENT A
OSBT Tag Program Registration Fee Recommendation
Ϯ
Enhancement Recommendation
The program registration and annual renewal fees will include a graduated fee structure for residents
of the City of Boulder, residents of Boulder County outside the City of Boulder and non-county
residents.
Program registration fees:
City of Boulder Residents (not to exceed $20) ($13),
Boulder County residents outside the City of Boulder (not to exceed $40) ($33),
Non-Boulder County residents ($75).
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OSBT Tag Program recommendation is based upon draft minutes from the April 10, 2013 OSBT meeting.
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