Town of Bancroft council will not go ahead with a budget amendment to alter user fees at the North Hastings Community Centre, and will instead establish a dedicated committee to discuss user fees for the upcoming season at the arena.
In 2024, council adopted a resolution to set non-resident user fees at $600 per participant for the 2026-27 season at the arena.
After Mayor Paul Jenkins and town General Manager Andra Kauffeldt tabled the proposed 2026 municipal budget under strong mayor powers in January, council was given the opportunity to propose amendments.
The only amendment that was approved was a proposition to lower non-resident user fees at the community centre and boost the ice rental rate to make up the difference.
Under strong mayor powers, Jenkins vetoed this amendment on March 3, and a motion to override his mayoral veto was defeated at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Jenkins’ veto document proposes the alternative of establishing a committee to renew conversation with facility users and consider other cost structure models, and Jenkins said this committee will be going ahead, though he will not be on it.
The town council schedule states there is a meeting set for March 16.
“They will come back with a recommendation to council, a very quick recommendation, on probably going forward just for the next year. And then the committee will go back and study it in more detail and try to come up with maybe a longer-range plan, or longer-range options,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins’ document states the idea behind non-resident user fees is to shift some of the cost burden away from Bancroft residents for the facility’s upkeep.
He said he does not think the $600 fee will go ahead for the upcoming season and the committee will come up with an alternative. He added he thinks the overall bottom line is to get other municipalities whose residents use the arena to come back to the table.
With no other amendments on the table and the period for mayoral vetoes and council overrides complete, the draft budget document states the budget will officially be deemed passed on March 20.
