Others aren’t so keen on the process. “Quite frankly, it takes you all year to get ready to do three months of camp,” Jerger said. “They don’t let you know if you have a camp for sure until Jan. 1…You’ve got 5 months you could’ve been preparing for the camp and you’re not sure you’re going to have one.”
The department estimates that it’ll generate nearly $500,000 in revenue from the process, up from $121,400 last year. So far, the county has received $9,000 in administrative fees for applicants and estimates that it’ll receive $34,550 on location bid fees and $450,776 on gross receipts.
New rules state that the county will receive 15 percent of the total gross receipts for privately operated camps. An administrative fee of $200 is charged for all licenses except community service licenses.
Jerger anticipates that the bidding process will increase competition among camps, and that the fee each camp has to pay is a hefty chunk of their profits. “The camps are going to have to increase their numbers to make the same amount of money. And that puts pressure on the camp because now there’s going to be more camps than ever before,” Jerger said. “Either you increase your numbers and work a lot harder, or go out of business.”
Those operating summer camps without a license face a $100 fine for the first violation, $200 for a second and not to exceed $500 for subsequent violations in the same year. “The goal is to shut down illegal operators,” Baker said. “Obtaining a fee from a citation is not of primary concern.”
The department also changed the rules so that instructors must be 18 years old. “That’s like having a secretary and (he or she) can’t use a copier,” Jerger said, adding that junior lifeguards often serve as instructors and have spent much of their childhoods in the water.
Concerned about the future of the camps, Jerger asked, “Are these camps going to be able to survive?”
