Reston Association members could see an increase in member fees next year.
The association’s staff have proposed a draft budget that includes a $865 yearly assessment — a 5.9% increase that would help cover salary increases and a $103 contribution per member to RA’s capital improvements plan.
At a board meeting last Thursday (Sept. 26), RA CEO Mac Cummins laid out key factors driving the increases, including inflation, the proposed compensation boosts and a need to “right size” the pool budget following cost overruns this year.
A salary and compensation study conducted by the firm PRM Consulting earlier this year found that 75% of full-time RA staff work at below the entry point for their selected grade or within the first quartile of pay, inhibiting the association’s ability to become a competitive employer.
Over time, RA hopes to bring all employees to the midpoint of salaries, an investment of $1.2 million that will likely be phased in over 2025 and 2026. RA staff noted that without a “strategic” approach to retention and recruitment, RA would “likely experience substantial staff departures for similar jobs in the local marketplace.”
The proposed budget allocates $450,000 in 2025 and $300,000 in 2026 to staff compensation.
RA plans to eliminate three positions — a pathway worker, an accounting technician, a member operations administrator — along with reclassifying the vacant director of finance as an accounting technician. Those moves are expected to create $300,000 in savings.
Roughly $36 in the proposed assessment increase was attributed to inflation. Insurance was also increased by 8% in the budget, along with a 6% increase in seasonal hourly staff.
The proposed budget also accounts for $380,000 in cost overruns this year, because all 15 of Reston’s pools were open for the first time in several years. Free recreation passes, which were wrapped up into membership dues, also drove more people to pools this year.
As a result, the budget includes extra hours to train and meet with lifeguards and proposes a $1 per hour increase in lifeguard salaries.
In the draft budget, RA staff propose allocating about $2.2 million to the capital improvements plan, including for pedestrian trail paving and swimming pool repairs. A second phase of improvements for the Hook Road Recreation Area was pushed to 2026.
The budget also includes some discussion about charging members for any credit card fees when they pay their assessment. Currently, credit card fees rack up about $300,000 per year, with roughly 50% of members using credit cards to pay the assessment.
During Thursday’s meeting, which followed a public hearing on the draft budget, at-large board member Izzy Santa said she was concerned about the increases in assessments.
“The affordability of living in Reston, when you combine it with everything else as a pocket item for a family, is getting too expensive,” Santa said.
But others said assessment increases are necessary to provide quality services that members need.
North Point District board director Laurie Dodd said periodic increases help RA strategically plan for the future, particularly as many of its facilities age. The organization has several pool replacements on the horizon in the coming years.
John Farrell, an at-large board member, said membership assessments should be judged by member satisfaction, rather than by just looking at the amount. He noted that a community survey conducted last year found that most members felt they were getting value for their money.
Farrell said he wants to ensure that pools remain open until the school year begins.
“I won’t support a budget that doesn’t have the pool open until schools open,” he said.
RA Chief Financial Officer Pete Lusk said staff would explore the suggestion and associated budgetary implications.
After a series of meetings and drafts, the board will formally adopt a budget for 2025 in November.
