There was interest among city councillors in extending the expiration date on Salmon Arm recreation passes.
This interest was prompted by a letter about the passes, available through Salmon Arm Recreation for use of amenities at the SASCU Recreation Centre and public skates at Rogers Rink, received at the Dec. 9 council meeting. The writer said they recently attempted to use their pass at the pool, knowing they had eight visits left on it, only to learn it had expired.
"I now have to fill in a form to request someone in authority to please consider if my request to have it reinstated is sufficient," reads the letter. "I find this process quite embarrassing, to explain the reason I didn't go to the pool as often as I expected."
The pass cards, for 10 or 30 single-use visits, offer a 10 per cent discount over the individual drop-in rate. The back of the cards state: "Admissions will expire one year from date of purchase." The writer asked if it is possible for the cards to be considered as gift certificates, where there is no expiration date.
"I feel it may benefit those who are struggling to make ends meet by having to work and may lose money by buying a pass only to have it expire and lose their heard earned money," commented the writer.
Addressing the difference between the passes and gift certificates, Salmon Arm Recreation general manager Darin Gerow said there are different rules for each. He said there have been lots of discussions with front-end administration staff to make sure the one-year expiration is noted when passes are sold.
Having had a similar experience with an expired recreation pass, Coun. Kevin Flynn said he thought it was something council should look at "and understand why it can’t be done administratively."
"I get it’s about liability in the current year, but we want to encourage recreation, the punch pass gives you a better value as a family or an individual and then to take away that better value because you didn’t use it as much as you hoped, I don’t think is necessarily a positive," said Flynn. "So I’m not saying it needs to change, but I’d sure like to understand why it has to expire."
Coun. Sylvia Lindgren said she'd like to see a change, suggesting a two-year limit "might be easier for people to stomach," before asking another question shared by the writer: "What are legitimate reasons to have it extended or have your money refunded and who makes that decision?"
"We have had people with medical conditions… unable to use the pass and they come and apply for an extension which is awarded," answered Gerow. "The one liability is if the user comes in, purchases a pass and the rates go up next year, we could have multiple people pre-purchasing passes knowing the rates are going to go up. It’s a risk we wouldn’t take."
"For me, that's a risk worth taking…," replied Lindgren. "I think that’s something we should consider and give people a longer period of time to use it so that they are encouraged to buy as much as they can afford at the time and be able to use it when they’re available."
Coun. Debbie Cannon, the city's representative on the Shuswap Recreation Society board, supported the current practice.
"As long as you have it on the card that it expires… and if people can apply if they have a health reason they can’t use that card and then we can extend it, I think that’s reasonable," said Cannon. "But to have a two year pass, I think a lot of things that you buy have a year, like when you buy some kind of recreation pass, golf or whatever – I think it’s reasonable having a one year."
No further comments were shared on the letter.
