Lacey Recreation Expands Program Offerings, Lessens Tax Burden

When James Wioland returned to his home town of Lacey Township last spring to take the job of Recreation Director, he took the place of two full-time people who had been at the Department for years, and the almost $300,000 annual budget was reduced to $175,000.

"We're doing a lot more with a lot less," said Wioland, a 1994 Lacey Township High School graduate.  "Our goal is to be less and less dependent on tax dollars. We're offsetting tax dollars needed to support the department in the past."

To start, Wioland instituted registration fees for certain activities that had been free, such as the senior citizen bus trips. However, the fees cover only the actual cost of running the trip, such as the bus driver's pay, fuel and tolls.

"It used to cost the township up to $200 to run a trip and now it costs nothing," said Wioland. "We've been able to be fiscally responsible because people pay and register ahead of time. We don't have to absorb losses if people don't show up."

The Recreation Department held 12 bus trips, from shopping at the Columbus Market in Burlington County to concerts at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, and only one had to be cancelled because of lack of interest, said Wioland.

Over the course of the spring and summer, many new programs were offered. A training course for the township Municipal Alliance's annual 5K run was held with more than 30 people regularly participating. A whole slew of summer sports camps and science camps were started for school-aged children. An introduction to musical theater course had 15 kids, which Wioland said will likely build in future years.

Their traditional summer recreation camp had a 30 percent increase in participation this past summer from the year before, with six more children signed up. At $100 per child, the department realized $6,000 more in revenue, said Wioland.

"The year 2010 was the first time the recreation department charged $100," said Wioland.  "It took just one year to increase. People understand that even at $100, the value was tremendous."

This winter, there will be three to four programs for every age group, according to Wioland. They have an open gym program for men and women to play basketball and volleyball from October through May. They will offer a yoga session for kids that starts on Nov. 18, mom and me story time, a culinary series, an Italian language course and a workplace readiness refresher, to name a few. 

Wioland said the goal is to work with as many community partners as possible.  He's now working on a partnership with a gymnastics business to offer gymnastics programming.

"This was the first year we offered additional programs and we were happy with the turnout," said Wioland.  We're rebranding ourselves and maybe put too much out there. By trial and error we saw what worked and what didn't."

After high school, Wioland entered the College of New Jersey with the intent of being a teacher, graduating with a degree in technology education and a minor in community recreation. As he waited to hear about teaching positions he had applied to, he took a summer job at the Saint Francis Community Center on Long Beach Island.

"I worked at Saint Francis for a couple of years and decided I really enjoyed the interaction I had with the community through recreation," said Wioland.

From there, he was hired by the Village of Ridgewood as Recreation Supervisor, where he was mentored by the Recreation Director and Assistant Director.

"It was in Ridgewood that I learned how to work in a municipal setting," he
said. "I was given the creative freedom to design programs that people wanted to participate in. This is where I learned how to market to a target audience without spending dollars."

Wioland managed the finances for a community lake and cafe' and managed all the summer camp programs.

In 2006, Wioland was named Recreation Director in Cherry Hill Township, where he managed a staff of eight full-time, eight part-time and hundreds of seasonal employees, overseeing 48 parks, two historic properties, Arts Center, Senior Center and numerous trail locations.

He became Lacey's Recreation Director in March 2011 and he and his wife, Kimberly, a 1993 LTHS graduate, now live back in their home town.

Shortly, the department will begin running advertisements asking residents to think of Lacey Township Recreation when doing their holiday shopping. Wioland said people can "give the gift of recreation" by purchasing gift certificates good toward registration for department programs. 

"We're certainly lessening the tax burden used to cover the department and eventually hope to be self-sustaining," he said. "We'll get there, it will just be a matter of time."