Unexpected Day care fee increase

[Anonymous]

Infant Toddler program in fairfax just added a 10% surcharge for infants under 15 months. They also added a 7% increase overall, but I guess that can be expected. Is this normal? I signed up this summer to start in December, but this 17% increase with no mention of it when i signed up, is a about 150 a month more. That puts them barely below some private day care centers and will have a big impact on our tight budget. There is no 10% increase if cares starts in Nov, so I am tempted to pay a month early, it is cheaper in the long run if I stick with them for 15 months.

[Anonymous]

Wow. 17% is a lot! How does Infant Toddler work? Do the providers all charge the same fees?
How can they charge this increase now for people who signed up before the change? Doesn't seem right.

[Anonymous]

It is not unusual to have a different rate structure for different ages. Many times this rate scale is in step with the staffing structure they use. For example if the child to adult ratio in the infant room as 4:1 and in the toddler room is 5:1 they abviously can spread the salary costs across more families.

I don't know what the old monthly daycare rates were - so they may just be trying to align their rates closer to actual costs.

For the 7% increase - this is a bit high for a 1 year change - but if they have not increased fees in a while it might be reasonable and once again getting the fees closer the market based.

[Anonymous]

Wow! Did they just raise the Fairfax rates? That is a lot to be unexpectedly hit with although I know that at least in Arlington they are by FAR the cheapest option so I'd guess they suddenly realized they were under market.

[Anonymous]

That's huge! I'd be really pissed. When I was looking for childcare, their rates were usually more than other in-home providers I looked at. This would really send them over the norm.

[Anonymous]

Infant Toddler didn't raise their rates at all last year, so the 7% is the first increase they have done since 2007.

The surcharge for infants is definitely new, but most centers I looked at charged more for infants than for toddlers, so I think that isn't uncommon.

OP: You mentioned that this puts them barely below some private centers - what centers are you looking at? When I was looking for daycare for my infant, most centers were quoting me around $1200 a month - dramatically more than the $940 infant toddler charges, and that was 2 years ago.

You should also call the infant toddler office and see if the 10% surcharge applies to you. The letter said that it is only being applied to infants that enroll AFTER october 2009 - so if you have already signed a contract and paid the enrollment fee, you may well be exempt from this surcharge. My second child just started last month and he's only 4 months old, but he's exempt from this surcharge.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Infant Toddler was just under $1000 for Fairfax, now it is about $1140 for infants. The new fees apply to infants starting care after Nov 2009. Most of the other centers were 1200-1300, one was 1500, but they all had much longer hours. I understand the 7% increase to make up for last year, but the additional 10% is quite a policy change that surely could have been mentioned when people signed up in July. Money is really tight and we are going to have to make some adjustments to that kind of a change.

[Anonymous]

I think I heard that Infant Toddler has an annual meeting to determine rates/charges. Maybe the issue hadn't been decided when you signed up in July? I agree its probably worth a phone call to see if the charges apply since you already signed up.

Totally sympathize with money being tight. We have 2 in the program and so its a double whammy for us. At the same time, our provider gives our children breakfast, lunch, and snacks every day, and she also provides formula for the infant - groceries have skyrocketed over the past 2 years and her income--out of which she has to purchase food for the children--has stayed the same. Not exactly fair.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. I have a 10 month old in the program and I didn't see the memo on the new rates. As for the food the provides give to the kids, I think it is subsidized through USDA, so the providers are not footing the whole bill on that.