Park board budget-cutting begins...wading pools nearer to the Chain of Lakes, portable toilets in the park system, teen jobs program - while adding parking meters around the lakes.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3770634.html
David Brauer
We must all contribute our share to the belt tightening. It does no good to call for lower taxes and/or lower spending if one refuses to give up part of one's own group's special circumstances. Thus, while I hate to see any park programs cut, and especially things like wading pools which my family makes use of, I am willing to pitch in my share and forego some benefits and amenities.
That remains true despite my firm belief that, although the U.S. economy has tanked and is driving the state's cost cutting, much of the pain could have been avoided had the legislature looked beyond their own re-elections and personal gains to actually plan ahead.
Regardless, here we are in a financial mess.
I've been thinking about how the Minneapolis parks and libraries could find new revenue for several months now.
I've spent a lot of time in the Minneapolis parks, especially around Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet, Lake Nokomis and Nicollet Island Park. I lived across the street from Lake Calhoun for 2 years and a few blocks away for another 4 years. I presently live about 6 blocks from Lake Harriet. Even during the 8 years when I lived in Maple Grove, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park, I freqently drove into Minneapolis to spend time at these parks -- often several times a week during the summer. I often met friends from all over the metro area getting together for recreation in these parks.
Among the very large number of people who use these parks, a large portion are not from Minneapolis. At some locations at certain times, it is a sure bet that the vast majority are not from Minneapolis. According to the park board, our parks had 15.5 million visitors last year (Minneapolis city population is nearly 400,000).
67% of the parks total revenue comes directly from city property taxes. 19.75% of the revenue is non-tax revenue (fees, etc.).
24% comes from local government aid, about 10% of which has tax revenue source in Minneapolis.
3% is from state grants, and 6% is from other revenues and transfers.
Last fall, my family visited my sister in Boulder, Colorado. Boulder has a very nice, extensive park system, including many acres of parkland in the mountains. They have an interesting fee system: if one is a Boulder county resident, one can park in these parks for free. If one is from anywhere else, there is a parking fee.
Given the huge number of non-Minneapolis residents who use the parks, is there some reason why such a scheme could not be used here?
I am in favor of providing a greatly discounted parking permit for Minneapolis parks to Minneapolis residents. Non-city residents should pay a higher parking fee. Likewise, fees for other park services (e.g. canoe rentals, weddings) should have a dual-fee schedule, resident and non-resident. (Current parking fees can be viewed here: http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=82)
Since the idea is to be revenue positive, I don't advocate making such a system complicated, for example in an effort to prevent cheating, which could result in a higher cost of implementation. There is already a permit system in place -- simply check the purchasers identification for a Minneapolis address whenever possible.
Parking meters could be free for residents on the honor system with the threat of getting a parking ticket from the park or city police if a vehicle is registered outside the city and is caught not paying. Do not install new parking meters (as proposed) but rather mark more areas as permit parking only. In fact, isn't the cost of installing the proposed 400 new meters fairly high by itself?
It would cost about $50,000 to re-open the wading pools, for example. I have no idea what the current permits, reservations and parking fee revenue has been in the past, but could a revised scheme as I've outlined raise enough to restore portable toilet, teen jobs or wading pools? It seems possible.
Chris Johnson Fulton
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