Public swim fees will soon be going up at the Steinbach Aquatic Centre. The matter came up for discussion when city council met in committee Tuesday evening. Mayor Earl Funk says swim fees need to go up because of rising costs to operate the aquatic centre.

"It's been a long time since we've raised our swim fees. Communities around us like Brandon, Portage, cities our size and bigger, and also Winnipeg, have been raising their fees and we haven't. In one way, we're bringing them up to the levels that they should be at."

Funk adds the fees will be going up by about one dollar effective April 1st. City council also agreed to add a fee for the 3-5-year-old age group which currently swims free of charge. Furthermore, city council has also directed the administration to work on a plan to increase fees for swimming lessons, including a higher surcharge for non-residents. Funk explains why they are targeting non-residents to reduce the annual pool deficit.

"The deficit is over $800,000 per year. It's the largest single deficit that we run in any facility that we own. We need to look at that because it is being subsidized, $800,000 a year, by the residents of Steinbach. And when you look at the fact that 70% of the swimmers are non-residents, that means that our residents are subsidizing a lot of non-resident swimmers and swimming lessons. That's why we will look at this and I think it will bring all of our fees in line with where they need to be."

Funk says the aquatic centre was initially built some 17 years ago with an objective to recover 66% of operating costs through user-fees. It is currently operating at 62% cost recovery. City council has asked the administration to come up with a plan to work towards 70% cost recovery through user-fees by adjusting the fee structure for swimming lessons. Funk says the administration will present recommendations to council this summer with a view to increasing the lesson rate in the fall. He adds council is not concerned that higher rates will drive people elsewhere.

"At this point, our pool is always full and, as a matter of fact, we often send away swimmers. So I believe that we can probably do this without any impact."