Park money shrinks?
May 16, 2008
By Emily Keller
City Council to consider bond options
Parks improvements are likely to slow over the next five budget years as a result of declining impact fees and city funding, public resistance to trail development and increases in the cost of land acquisition and construction, according to the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Parks Commission.
The commission, an advisory group to the City Council, has recommended reducing the six-year budget for trails and athletic fields from the 2007 plan to account for the difference.
“Funding the [Capital Improvements Program] in the coming years is going to be a challenge, as impact fees have fallen far below the early projections,” said Hank Klein, chair of the Parks Commission. Capital improvements are typically major renovations or large construction projects.
“Obviously it’s disappointing from the standpoint of what we’re going to be completing in the next five years” Klein said.
The six-year plan recommendations drafted by the Parks and Recreation Department and refined by the commission suggest eliminating trail projects that were deemed to be impractical because they require too many private property easements.
The commission proposed amending athletic field plans based on a recent ball field study that looked at the feasibility of replacing natural grass with artificial turf and creating multi-use fields. Based on the results, parks planners made the Eastlake High School baseball and soccer fields and the Pine Lake Middle School soccer field higher priorities, and moved the Inglewood Junior High football field down on the list because the track that surrounds it makes it harder to use the field for baseball and softball.
The commission has proposed a $40 million parks bond option for possible inclusion on the November ballot that would fund parks improvement projects at a cost of $168 annually for six years for a homeowner with a $600,000 property.
As an alternative, the commission has proposed a $17 million small bond that would cost the same homeowner $72 per year for six years. That bond removes $14 million in facilities funding for community centers from the big bond and reduces land acquisition funds from $10 to $6 million.
The City Council will have the final decision about what goes before voters. They may choose either bond, a modified version of either bond, or no bond at all.
Parks planners also updated costs in their revised plan and added the first phase of work to the East Sammamish Park in the city’s northeast quadrant, which is unofficially called Bill Reams Park. That phase includes improvements to the parking lot, playground and picnic shelter, better pedestrian access and a new splash park.
The reduction in funding is the result of a smaller than expected collection of park impact fees, which the city charges developers for new residential building permits.
“Our projection is down because development is down,” said Jessi Richardson, director of the Parks Department.
Richardson also noted that the estimates are very conservative and the City Council could still allocate additional funds for parks as the budget process continues.
In the 2007 plan, the Parks Commission expected to receive $1.2 million in impact fees each year for six years, but the impact fee revenue stream was only $150,000 in 2007. Real Estate Excise Taxes that were estimated at $1.5 million came in even higher, at $1.7 million, and grants worth $200,000 were collected as expected.
The city’s general fund contribution dropped from $1 million annually to $100,000 as scheduled in the 2007 plan, but the City Council could still allocate additional funds for parks improvements as the budget process continues, said Richardson.
City Manager Ben Yazici said projects will still be completed but at a slower pace.
“It’s not dropped from the list, it’s just going to take us longer,” Yazici said about capital improvements.
Parks officials will discuss the specific projects that would be affected at the City Council’s April 19 meeting. The commission will present a park bond and levy financial analysis to the council June 10, and the council is scheduled to adopt the six-year program June 17.
If the council should approve a bond package, it will have to go to voters Nov. 4 for final approval. The council’s last opportunity to put a park bond on the ballot is July 15.
Reporter Emily Keller can be reached at (425) 392-6434 ext. 242 or EKeller@isspress.com.
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