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This page
made possible through the generous sponsorship of Kevin O'Brien of
ISN.net
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Speed
Skate PEI functions as both the local speed skating club (Charlottetown
Speed Skating Club) and the provincial sports organization
(PSO).
The registration fees collected to assist in covering the costs of
Speed Skate PEI are only used to support Club events, including ice
time, training events, and club competitions.
What does it cost to run the club?
It costs over $50,000 to run the Club each
year. Approximately $25,000 are required for ice time
alone. Additional costs include purchasing mats and their
maintenance (each mat is worth approximately $500), purchasing and
maintaining skates for the Club rental program (each pair of skates
costs the Club approximately $300), purchasing and making available
skate sharpening equipment, paying for supplies and awards for
practices and Club events (e.g. Fun meets), administration (xeroxing,
Executive Director support, maintaining the hotline, etc), coaching
development (costs associated with ensuring coaches are certified and
trained), and coaching/manager costs for meets.
Where does the money come from?
The registration and other fees directly
charged to
skaters cover approximately half of the cost of running the
Club.
The rest of the costs are made up through hosting the Atlantic Cup
Speed Skating Championships, our own fund-raising efforts, and the
grants that our Club President and Executive Director apply for through
Sport PEI (provincial government), support from the City of
Charlottetown, and the Canada Games Foundation. We are
particularly grateful for the support from the municipal and provincial
governments and assistance from Sport PEI. It is only as a
result
of City of Charlottetown support for ice rinks that we are able to
obtain ice time at the rates that we do.
What about resident and non-resident fees?
The registration fees Speed Skate PEI charges
to
city and non-city residents are the same. However, to
encourage
fitness amongst city children and encourage use of city sporting
facilities, the City of Charlottetown uses the tax dollars paid by her
residents to subsidize the registration costs of city residents in
summer and winter sports.
The subsidy for winter sports (hockey, figure skating, etc) is equal to
one-half of the registration fees (not including equipment rental) or
$120, whichever is least. This subsidy is paid directly to
Speed
Skate PEI to be applied directly against individual city resident
registration fees, in accordance with the rules laid out by the
city. Therefore, we only collect the difference of the fee
from
City Residents. Thus, while the registration fee charged by
the
Club to all members of Speed Skate PEI is the same, the city subsidy is
paid directly to the Club and not refunded to city residents.
Non-city residents do not subsidize the city residents nor are they
charged at a higher rate.
Similarly, it is not possible according to the rules of the city
subsidy, and it would not be fair to city residents, to have city
residents subsidize participation of non-city residents by applying
part of the city subsidy against non-resident fees. City
residents pay for this subsidy indirectly through their
taxes.
Other communities on PEI also offer subsidies and non-city residents
may wish to enquire if such subsidies are available in their
community. Non-city residents should also consider that
direct
city subsidies to rink operations are the basis for our reasonable ice
rental fees and that they too are therefore receiving subsidies from
the City of Charlottetown for their children’s activities.
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