Mailbag: Fred writes about 5 Year Capital Plan for Park

(Ed. note. This was a comment on a post that has been brought forward for better visibility.)

"Budget: Evansville: 5 year Capital Plan Budget Lists $1,175,000 in 2008,2009,2010 for Westside Park"


Fred Juergens said...
I'm writing here as the chair of the Park Board. These Capital Plan budget figures were developed, though, not by the Park Board, but by the Public Works Committee.

There is no doubt that the current fund called "Fees in lieu of Parkland Dedication" can not by itself cover the total projected cost of the West Side Park.

Currently the fund will have about $104K in it, after paying out about $35K for the improvements currently being undertaken at long-neglected Countryside Park.

These "fees in lieu" come from subdivision developers. The city received about $58K in 2005. None is expected to be received in 2006. The city planner's projections are for approximately $68K in 2007, $37K in 2008, and then none til 2011, when another $47K is projected. Summing the current balance and the projected fee income gives a total of about $256K.

This is just a bit over 20% of the projected expenditures. Further, according to a law signed by Governor Doyle last spring, cities will no longer be able to collect these fees, but rather will have to take title to actual park-land when and if new subdivisions are developed. (and then have no source of funds besides taxes to develop the vacant land into functional parks.)

I believe that whether the city will be able to develop the Westside park completely will depend on if the city is able to generate the needed revenue in some fashion than these fees.

At this point, the 5-year Capital Plan calls for a shelter/bathroom and a playground in 2008. The "fees" account may cover the projected 2008 costs, if inflation doesn't hit us too hard, but little after that. The 2009 and 2010 projections are just wish lists, in my humble opinion, unless more money is found -- somewhere else.

Records show that the city has consistently budgeted $50K/year of tax money for capital projects related to parks, aside from the "fees in lieu" mentioned above. Even if we save all that money up, and do nothing else at all for four years in the rest of the city's parks, that annual budget won't cover the 2009 and 2010 project costs.

And of course, none of the above begins to address the costs of restoring Lake Leota. The citizenry needs to take a hard look at what it wants in its parks and how to pay for those wants.

4:58 PM