City Sport Fees Vary by Area, Audit Says

The Los Angeles parks department charges much higher fees in some neighborhoods to join sports leagues and may have overcharged residents by millions of dollars over the years, a city audit released Thursday concluded.

A 9-year-old signing up for the city baseball program pays $35 at Lafayette Park near downtown, $55 at the Normandie Recreation Center in South Los Angeles, $80 in Woodland Hills and $110 at the Bogdanovich Recreation Center in San Pedro, the audit found.

“Program fees for the same recreational services vary dramatically among facilities throughout Los Angeles,” said Controller Laura Chick, who released the audit. “Since fees are designed to recover direct costs, why should it cost more money to play baseball in one park instead of another?”

Chick blamed the disparity on a policy that allows the managers of the recreation centers to set fees and on the parks department’s failure to calculate the true cost of offering the sports programs.

Fees are generally set by local recreation managers based on the amount that was charged the prior year or that would encourage more participation, the audit concluded, based on interviews with parks officials.

The audit said parks officials could not recall whether a committee that reviews fees had convened in the last five years.

Chick also said that the fees set for four of the city facilities were not approved by supervisors, as required by city policy.

Responding to the audit, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asked Jon Mukri, general manager of the city Recreation and Parks Department, to develop a plan within 30 days to address the issues Chick raised.

Mukri said he has started a review to come up with a more uniform approach, but he added that some communities would still pay more than others. “I’m going to revamp and standardize the way we set fees,” he said. “But you are never going to have uniform fees in Los Angeles.”

Mukri said parents in some communities insist on more expensive programs, including higher-quality uniforms, separate all-star uniforms and bigger trophies. Some communities give trophies to top-placing teams only, while others want trophies to go to all participants, Mukri said.

In addition, lower participation levels can affect fees.

Mukri also said that his agency tries to ensure that communities pay as much of the cost of the program as they can afford, but that the department artificially reduces fees in some less-affluent areas.

“Where areas can pay more, I will let them make that decision,” he said.

San Pedro resident Barbara Paige said much of her community is working class, so the idea that they can pay more than the affluent residents of Woodland Hills does not seem reasonable.

“It doesn’t sound like it’s very fair,” said Paige, a member of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council. “I would have some concerns about the difference. It’s astonishing.”

But Joe Gatlin, who has coached sports programs that are separate from the city’s, said he would not be surprised if enthusiastic San Pedro parents want more from their program and therefore pay higher fees.

“There is a lot of pride in this community,” he said.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents San Pedro, said she would launch a review to determine how to provide more uniform fees.

Hahn said one member of her staff recalls playing baseball years ago in Wilmington, where the team wore simple T-shirts with numbers, and being intimidated playing San Pedro, which had major-league replica uniforms.

“We ought to look at a different way of doing this,” she said.

Chick’s audit also raised the question of whether the city is overcharging.

Auditors discovered that the agency has accumulated a $21.5-million fund from recreation fees, a windfall that has been tapped for inappropriate expenses, including travel, computers and supplies unrelated to recreation.

“The high balance in the fund is an indication that the department may be charging too much for its programs,” the audit said.

Chick recommended that the money be transferred to the city general fund.

Mukri defended the surplus, saying that the department has been banking greens fees to undertake an $8-million renovation of city golf courses.

Pointing out that several city pools are inoperable or need fixing, Villaraigosa directed Mukri to examine whether some of the $21.5 million could be used “to repair the city’s pools immediately.”

Mukri said he would look at how the fund was managed to make sure it was not taking in too much, but he defended the travel, computer and supply expenses as helping in the administration of recreation programs.

Another reason the fund is so large is that the city took over the Pershing Square parking garage from a contractor, generating $2 million each year, most of which has gone into the fund.

Chick criticized the agency for not spending that money on recreation programs for downtown youths.

Mukri disputed the idea that it should all be spent downtown, saying the need might be greater elsewhere.