School District Earning Revenue From Facility Rentals

The has begun to reap financial benefits from an initiative to aggressively promote facility and ground assets that began in the spring of 2010.

According to school officials, the district earned more than $90,000 last fiscal year during its Community Services Program from fitness center memberships, facility and athletic field rentals and health and wellness program memberships. 

"Every dollar we earn through our leases and rentals is one more available to maintain our facilities and one less needed to derive through the property tax levy," said Stuart Wilke, district spokesperson, in an email last week. 

Wilke said the district has signed contracts, some of which are already being exercised, that already amount to $68,000 in revenue for the 2012 fiscal year and that the district is exploring other options such as athletic tournaments that "should significantly raise this total."

The facilities have been used and rented by both residents and non-residents for various performances, such as David Seebach’s Illusions in the Night magic show and the Britins Beatles’ tribute band, wedding showers, swim lessons, martial arts tournaments and dance companies, according to Wilke. 

Part of the impetus of promoting the recreation facilities to the outside public was the framing of the $38 million renovation referendum in 2007. During the successful referendum campaign, school officials vowed to make the facilities available to the community as much as possible when they were not in use by students.

School officials have also indicated their wish to combat some of the district's financial woes through creative revenue-generating initiatives, which includes earning rental and usage fees through the district's facilities.

"Generally speaking, schools have not traditionally been available for use by the people whose property taxes make them possible," Wilke said.

Earlier this spring, the district's decision to offer recreational programs and leagues similar to those offered by the City of Greenfield's Park and Recreation Department was and .

Those programs and leagues, however, never garnered enough interest and never got off the ground.

"When the district began offering programs for community members to benefit from our facilities, we knew it would take time to learn what programs would be popular and revenue-generating," Wilke said. "For example, there have been inquiries for adult recreational leagues, but not a sufficient number to establish them."

Wilke said the district still intends to establish athletic leagues and the next promotional effort will begin soon and is centered on fall and winter dodgeball and volleyball.

He said the Community Services Program has been a learning experience; the most important lesson learned has been facility rentals are the district's biggest money-maker, at least for now.

"While we weren’t able to offer a soccer league, for instance, we have already made about $3,500 renting our soccer fields and the season isn’t over," Wilke said.

Basketball was never part of district's recreational program, but the district has raised approximately $10,000 by renting gymnasiums and field houses for basketball tournaments. The district has partnered with area swim programs and earned nearly $22,000, and baseball tournaments have brought in $2,600.

"Obviously, facility rental for athletic-oriented and other activities are proving to be very worthwhile," Wilke said. "We are now channeling much of our efforts on facility rental as we get the greatest return on the investment by concentrating on those areas that we know generate the most revenue.

"We have only scratched the surface of our potential."