A two-year-old San Diego policy that funnels money to recreation centers in low-income areas is slated for some big changes that could help it achieve the goal of reducing neighborhood inequities across the city.
The Opportunity Fund has already helped recreation centers in neighborhoods like Azalea and Skyline sponsor field trips to the beach, stage winter snow days and launch classes in cooking and robotics.
And now the fund is slated for a surge in cash, as across-the-board city fee increases will raise the permit and fees that it by nearly 20%.
City officials are also launching a neighborhood-by-neighborhood comprehensive analysis of recreation needs to determine where and how to spend Opportunity Fund money most effectively.
The analysis, which is expected to take about a year, aims to pinpoint gaps in activities, establish benchmarks for the fund and determine how much money is needed to provide equitable recreational opportunities.
“We hope that once that is complete — spring of next year — we will have a better understanding of the programmatic needs to use this funding on for years to come,” said Sarah Erazo, a deputy director in the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
City officials said Wednesday that the fund, which doles out about $400,000 each year, has already been impactful in the 12 neighborhoods where it has boosted funding — partly because the increases are typically gigantic.
Funding for the Azalea Recreation Center, in the Azalea Park area of City Heights, soared from $1,196 in fiscal year 2023 to $84,000 in fiscal year 2024.
That surge in funding helped pay for field trips to the beach, the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld — plus new programs in science and cooking.
Funding for the Penn Athletic Field and teen center, just east of Paradise Hills, jumped from $27,100 to $81,220 when the Opportunity Fund was created in fiscal year 2024.
The new money helped pay for classes in baby sign language, robotics, cooking and karate. It also covered enhanced teen programming.
The Skyline Hills Recreation Center saw a funding surge from $6,440 to $84,000 that was spent partly on a young engineers program and a cheer and dance team.
While the program has made a difference, it has also suffered some growing pains.
City officials provided funding to only six neighborhoods the first year, with the goal of getting each of them to the minimum funding goal for city rec centers of just over $80,000.
But in year two, the goal was changed to $50,000 in 10 neighborhoods so that the Opportunity Fund could help more areas.
The annual funding estimate of $1 million was also revised downward in the face of backlash from groups that pay the Opportunity Fund fee.
The $1 million was based on the fee being applied to all permitted events, facility use by sports leagues, room and pool rentals and other operations in city parks.
But city officials say they got complaints from youth sports leagues and nonprofits that the Opportunity Fund fee was substantially increasing permit costs and jeopardizing their ability to keep operating at city facilities.
Consequently, city officials agreed that youth sports leagues would only be charged the Opportunity Fund fee for game-day rental hours and not for practice hours. And nonprofits were given lower fees and only charged during event hours.
The Opportunity Fund fee is an additional surcharge beyond ordinary permit and facility use fees.
For outdoor events with fewer than 50 people, the fee is $1 an hour for nonprofits and $5 for commercial enterprises. With more people, the cost is $10 an hour for nonprofits and $20 an hour for commercial use.
Room rentals are $1 an hour for nonprofits and $10 an hour for commercial.
Youth Sports Leagues pay $1 per hour for use of courts and fields. Adult leagues pay $2 an hour.
Just over two-thirds of Opportunity Fund revenue comes from outdoor events, with another 26% from sports leagues and 7% from room rentals.
All of these fees are slated to rise by 19.5% this spring. San Diego is sharply increasing fees to help close a projected $258 million budget deficit.
The city uses a complex formula to decide which neighborhoods get Opportunity Fund money. It includes income data from the U.S. Census, the city’s climate equity index and the Parks and Recreation Department’s tactical equity plan.
Those criteria combine to help officials evaluate a neighborhood’s income level, resources and vulnerability to climate change.
Marcella Bothwell, chair of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board, said Wednesday that the Opportunity Fund could really make a difference to long-neglected city neighborhoods.
“There’s a long, long history of the recreation centers south of Interstate 8 not having the same level of programming as the recreation centers north of the 8,” Bothwell said. “This is a chance to take a tiny bit of revenue and use it to make things more equitable.”
When the fund was established, Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said it had the potential to be “transformational” for many city neighborhoods that have had relatively scant resources.
“This is a really, really good step to equitably redistribute from communities that are literally overflowing with resources to communities with limited access to opportunity,” Elo-Rivera said.
The other neighborhoods that have gotten Opportunity Fund money so far are Mountain View, Stockton, Bay Terraces, Southcrest and City Heights.
Funding has also gone to the Willie Henderson Sports Complex, Park de la Cruz Recreation Center and the Cesar Solis Skate Park in Ocean View Hills.
