September 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 53

Once Upon a Tax Cap
BEFORE PROP 13 IN CALIFORNIA
(passed in 1978) and the lesser known
but similar Prop 2 ½ in Massachusetts
(which in 1980 similarly put a cap on tax
increases), the need for fees and charges in parks was much less critical than
today. but " things really kicked in after
that, " says Matthew Pantera, chair of the
springfield College sport Management
and Recreation Department in Massachusetts. Pantera has been on both
sides of the fence, having spent 23 years
as director of recreation for brookline
and Weston, two aﬄuent Massachusetts
communities. his experiences in those
jobs and his research in academia
showed that today's trends have been in
place for more than three decades.
in fact, Pantera says, recreation management has become more like sports
management over these years because
of the need to generate revenues. " Certain programs are cash cows. if you
looked to those as revenue generators
and balance that off against programs

for youth and seniors,
you can do more programs for free. "
today, the economy
is such that the board
of park commissioners
and/or elected oﬃcials
" have to look at the
system in its totality, "
Pantera says. " is it businesslike and well
planned so it 's not
wasteful-but at the
same time can provide services for all? "
Pantera recommends " benchmarking your counterparts' parks departments, especially the Gold Medal
ones. " but he agrees that " every situation has its own set of nuances that
need to be addressed. one city may
have a profitable aquatic center but
also needs to be sensitive to the elderly
and younger children. "
the number-one task for parks professionals, Pantera says, is to educate

political leadership before they make decisions. " one technique, "
he says, " might be to
take politicians on a
tour of your facility-
show them not only the
business aspects of it,
but the people who
need it. it could be a
Pantera
saturday morning bus
ride. "
Pantera says his own
students are being prepared for the
real world by studying customer services, budgeting contracts, and other
business-oriented subjects. " Without
question, our focus is on business management. that's what i tell the parents
of potential students when they come
in, " Pantera adds. " i also tell them that
gone are the days when someone got a
job in a parks department because they
knew somebody who worked there. "
-harvey Chipkin

Priced Out?

Grow, Just Like a Business

Dealing with those unable to pay " might be what we
have been worst at, " O'Rourke says. His department
has a foundation with approximately $400,000 in reserves. Interest from that fund is used for those who
can't pay. Rather than paying for passes or other fees,
however, the money is used to allow church and other groups to use water parks and camps.
Most systems are very much aware of the interests of those who can't pay even nominal fees. " Our
Angel program is very important, " Lovell says. " People can donate anonymously or can target a particular person. Or someone can come in and apply for a
free or reduced fee membership. It will depend on
where they are eligible for free or reduced lunch in
school. Also, we might have children do some work,
like tending to flower beds to earn scholarships. "
Erickson says obtaining free memberships had
been an informal process until five years ago. If residents asked, they would get a scholarship, she says.
But, now with improved screening, " We have a better idea of who is using what and how much we might
have been losing. " A My Place program run by the
department provides free memberships and 50 percent discounts on specific programs for students at
schools where 75 percent of the students receive a
free or reduced lunch.

Engaging the public and explaining what you are doing is crucial, O'Rourke says. " It's hard to charge for
something that has been free, but the choice might
be shutting it down. "
In communities where fees are being adjusted or
increased, community participation is crucial, parks
professionals agree. " You have to bring your community along with the concept, " Lovell says. " You
have to go to them and ask, 'Do you want us to increase taxes or do you want the people who get the
direct benefits of the parks system to pay taxes?' "
" We had a recreational task force in 2008 with 25
community members that represented all parts of the
city, as well as nonprofits and elected officials, " Erickson says of Denver. " We held 21 community meetings to come up with a strategic vision. The tiered
pricing is one of the things that emerged from that. "
Even once they have a successful fee system in
place, parks managers can't rest. " You have to grow,
just like a business, " O'Rourke concludes. " You can
never the stay the same. Either you're growing or you're
dying. I know I have money today but I have to make
sure I will have money five or 10 years from now. "
HARVey CHIPKIN is a New Jersey-based writer.

His last article for Parks & Recreation explored youth
conservation corps.

www.NRPA .ORG

SEPTEMBER 2011

Parks & Recreation

September 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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