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Costs

Compared to many other youth programs, Scouting is not expensive.  However, there are some costs for dues, uniforms, handbooks, optional Scout Life Magazine, and special events that you should be aware of when deciding to join.  All leaders at the local pack level are unpaid volunteers and the local pack seeks no profit.

Dues are paid each year and distributed between the national BSA organization and our local pack.  These dues pay for the costs of running the program both nationally and locally and cover the costs of accident and liability insurance.  As an option, you may also choose to subscribe to the Scout Life Magazine for an additional fee.  A more detailed listing of where your dues go is provided in the detail sheet appearing further down on this page.

Dues cover a calendar year from January to December.  In the year that you join, you will pay a one-time $25.00 joining fee and a prorated amount for the national dues and insurance covering the remaining months of the current calendar year.  You will pay this amount to the national BSA organization when submitting your application form.  The amount representing our local Pack 264 dues is not collected for the months remaining in the current calendar year.  The "Joining Year" table below shows the breakdown of these fees.  

Each year in September/October, we collect the annual dues for the coming year.  Our local Pack 264 collects the entirety of these dues via PayPal and distributes the national dues, insurance and Scout Life Magazine subscription portions to BSA.  The breakdown  of annual Renewal Year dues is shown in the second table below.

If you are joining late in the year, you will be paying both the Joining Year and Renewal Year dues near the same time, but to two different organizations (Joining Year fees to national BSA with the application; Renewal Year fees to local Pack 264 via PayPal).

There are also a few other variable costs for items such as uniforms, a handbook, and participation fees in special events such as camping trips, overnighters, Scout Night,  and our annual banquet.  We also encourage families to voluntarily donate whatever they see fit to Friends of Scouting (FOS) once each year which raises money for our council to provide the numerous facilities and services that support our pack and others in the Silicon Valley and Monterey Bay areas.

For a more detailed look at these costs, see the information below, which also provides you with a complete list of shopping items to get your scout outfitted for their scouting career.  The location of our closest physical Scout Shop is also listed below.  You can also shop on-line at ScoutShop.org.