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No one wanted to leave the impression that the City of Naples isn't kid-friendly.

But when Naples council members were approached earlier this month about possible budget cuts, one of the items that stood out was transferring a popular summer camp program to the YMCA.

Council members nixed the idea and decided to keep the money for the program in the 2007-08 budget, even though the transfer would have saved the city about $113,000.

But as cities across the state scramble to make substantial cuts to their 2007-08 budgets, children's programs often are targeted in hopes of redistributing city money.

"This did not happen because we don't like kids," said Ann Marie Ricardi, the city's finance director. "But the purpose of the city is to provide services that wouldn't be provided otherwise. When you find someone out there who is willing to help, you take advantage of it."

The idea was never to shut down the summer camp program, David Lykins told council during an Aug. 13 budget hearing.

Instead, the plan was to transfer all of the services to the YMCA, which already has an established summer camp program, while maintaining the programs at their current location.

"We're not looking at stopping a program," Lykins said during the Aug. 13 meeting. "If only the city is providing (these services), we would have to look at a reduction. We couldn't do what we're doing now next year, and we would want this to be a seamless transition."

Even with a seamless transition, the idea of transferring an established program to another agency rubbed some council members the wrong way.

About 2,000 children took advantage of summer camps offered through the city during the past summer session, Lykins told council members.

That number was significant enough, Councilman Gary Price said, to keep the program around.

"We have a commitment to this community," Price said. "I didn't want to pass on this responsibility to the YMCA."

A commitment to the community is one of the reasons $255,000 of proposed cuts were kept in Marco Island's city budget, City Manager Bill Moss said.

Moss said his staff looked at three separate criteria when coming up with the preliminary budget, which was presented to council Monday.

Under the proposed criteria, dollars that were used for outside agencies, programs that had yet to be implemented and programs with low attendance were looked at to be cut, or reduced.

Looking at that criteria meant that many programs involving parks and recreation could have been reduced.

All of the money was restored, Moss said, after council opted to cut one big program, rather than several smaller programs.

Had the money not been restored, a teen center, which has been in the works for several years, would have been cut.

Marco Island had budgeted $150,000 to be used for the teen center. After about six years of planning, the city found an appropriate space for it earlier this year. The center would be in a first-floor space on North Collier Boulevard, beneath a second floor tae kwan do studio. The 36,000-square-foot center would give teens a safe space to hang out.

Between 80 and 120 take advantage of teen programs offered through the city's parks and recreation department. The city of Marco Island also offers a summer camp program, with 284 children taking advantage of it last summer, said Mindy Matusiak, the city's recreation program supervisor.

Lisa Douglass, a spokeswoman for the city of Marco Island, said it’s hard not to look at these programs when cities need to make improvements elsewhere.

"I think it’s a challenge to look at the infastructure needs and the spending caps and then be asked to cut programs," she said.

Parents sending their children to next year's summer camps in Naples could see changes, varying from the cost of the program to the number of field trips children take.

"This year was the best day camp we've ever had," Orstad said. "I hope that we'll be continuing on next year, with only minor changes."

Orstad said it's too early to commit to any type of change, especially since a final budget has yet to be approved. But she said her department will look at changes to transportation and field trips to help minimize costs.

This year, children attended up to three field trips a week, and Orstad said that could change come next summer.

Also expected to change is the cost. This year the day camp cost $115 for residents, $125 for children living in the county. Orstad said parents could see a price increase next year.

"Every year it goes up a little bit, and I'm sure it will have to go up next year, too," she said. "We're just hoping the council will keep it as it is."

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