The Community Learning Campus (CLC) fitness centre is increasing its fees for the first time in three years.
But a spokesman for Olds College, which co-owns the facility with Chinook's Edge School Division, said the centre's public members aren't subsidizing discounted memberships for students and staff from the college and school division.
Dean Turnquist said memberships paid for by students covered 46 per cent of the centre's revenue in 2012-13, compared to community memberships that accounted for 45 per cent.
Corporate and staff memberships covered 8.5 per cent.
The centre's operating costs, he added, are completely covered by membership revenue and not from any tax-related funding through the school division.
Staff and students from the college and the school division receive discounted rates for memberships at the centre with Olds High School paying a flat yearly rate for use of the facility.
While membership fees are included in the tuition students pay to Olds College, students at Olds High School can opt out of paying the high school back for a membership at the centre.
During the last school year, 1,000 college and 600 school division students had memberships to the centre.
College staff and employees had 70 memberships and school division staff members had 50.
There were a total of 130 yearly public memberships.
As of Sept. 1, the yearly membership for the public increases from $510 to $550 and the monthly membership increases from $52.50 to $55.
A yearly staff membership for employees of Olds College and Chinook's Edge School Division will go up from $250 to $300, $10 more than the public membership increase.
College staff are also reimbursed for their memberships through the college's taxable benefits program, said Connie Conley, the CLC's director of corporate and client services.
Annual student fees are $100 and that amount will not change when the fee increase takes effect.
Turnquist said the increase in fees is meant “to maintain service and equipment levels” at the centre while covering wear and tear to the facility's equipment over the three years since the CLC was built.
Conley said despite the pending fee increase, the centre's rates are still comparable to other public fitness facilities.
A survey of a number of other Alberta communities of similar size to Olds, however, showed membership fees were lower at public fitness facilities in those towns.
In Drumheller, which has a population of 8,029, a monthly membership to the community fitness centre is $45.75 and the yearly fee is $411.25.
Those fees also give members access to the centre's library and pool.
Monthly fees for the community fitness centre in Whitecourt, population 9,605, are $45 for adults and $25 for young people aged 13 to 17.
The yearly fee for adults is $440 and the yearly fee for people aged 13 to 17 is $240.
Those fees also include access to the community's entire recreation centre.
In the smaller community of Penhold, which has a population of nearly 2,400 people, community fitness centre fees for students ranged from $27 to $36 per month and $291.60 per year.
The monthly adult fee ranged from $40.90 to $54 and the yearly fee is $420.66.
