by Garth Meyer
A new activities fee schedule was approved by the Redondo Beach City Council July 9 by a 3-2 vote. The fees were initially proposed during the last night of budget discussions in June. Councilmembers Todd Loewenstein and Nils Nehrenheim ostensibly voted for the new rates as part of the fiscal 2024-25 budget, but voted against confirming them three weeks later.
“Think twice about putting fees on the backs of residents,” Loewenstein told fellow councilmembers. “These are huge increases.”
He explained that he approved the fees earlier as a compromise, at the end of a weeks-long process to pass a 2024/25 city budget by the June 30 deadline.
New rates Loewenstein singled out included the Alta Vista Park community building rental now at $200 per hour, up from $110 (not counting maintenance fee); and the park’s five-hour picnic site rentals, up from $55 to $125.
For Aviation Park, he noted, the large gym rental rose to $175 per hour from $110, and the small gym increased from $8 to $150.
Councilman Zein Obagi, Jr., made the motion to approve the new Master Fee Schedule, Councilman Scott Behrendt quickly seconded it, and it passed with Paige Kaluderovic’s support.
“Collegiality and compromise, I feel like it was definitely missing (in the budget process),” Loewenstein said.
Kaluderovic defended the new prices.
“A lot of these needed to go up so we can hire staff to offer programs,” she said. “We are raising fees because we are not creating revenue in other places. That’s where we’re at.”
Public Works and Police fees also went up in the 2024-25 budget.
Councilman Nehrenheim said that record revenue was forecasted in the 2024-25 budget, without raising fees.
“It’s been credit-card spending, the last two years,” he said. “A lot of bad ideas in this last budget.”
“Folks, when you hear credit-card spending in Redondo Beach, that’s fake news,” Obagi said. “The budget must be balanced as a matter of the (city) charter.”
He went on to point out one-time expenditures in the 2024-25 budget, so there “will be a surplus next year.” ER
