Lake County Parks Staff Plead for more Funding - is it justified?

Tavares, FL      May 1, 2014

The Daily Commercial published an article quoting Lake County managers and officials pleading for "mo money" to fund expanded plans for County Recreation facilities.

http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/article_565b7c50-2adb-52d0-85f3-3670a2a9a836.html

The article left out any balancing information on why they want it, or the possible underlying reason is to justify higher taxes in the upcoming budget year.

Here is the comment we posted about the other side of the "need" for more parks funding:

As a person who has attended most Lake County Board meetings, I sympathize with the managers & officials pleading for more taxpayer funds.   However, the article does not:

- Get quotes from people that don't want tax hikes, which is what this is leading to.
- Describe the reason for lower tax revenues overall is that the Board waived most residential and commercial impact fees which provide funds for roads and schools.  This was done to please the Homebuilder's Assocation and shift tax needs to all taxpayers.  This has put pressure on budgets.
- Describe the bad habit of the County in constantly buying land without also budgeting for maintenance costs.  Thus they get grants or financing deals for land without funding facilities  or maintenance as part of the budget process.  That is why we have many "passive" parks without maintenance funding.  In some cases, residents are banned from some government owned land due to lack of operations funds.   IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE FUNDS FOR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS, DON'T BUY THE LAND!!!   

Currently, government owns maybe 25% or more of the land in the County, which takes it off tax rolls and incurs the need for maintenance funds.  Why don't the CITIES pay for parks they want instead of County taxpayers?  

- The parks subsidize private for profit or non-profit groups running leagues on the parks.  The County should figure out the actual cost of providing the league space and charge them accordingly.   Why does everyone expect taxpayers to provide free land use with maintenance for limited groups?

 

- County unemployment figures went up recently, which is not a good time to keep starting projects with lack of funding.  It is like buying four antique cars without funding for parts and labor costs to fix them.

In summary, the above are reasons why the County should get out of the land bank business and rely on existing property tax levels until property values go up.   NO PARKS OR TRAIL LAND SHOULD BE PURCHASED IF FUNDS DO NOT EXIST FOR OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE OR FACILITIES (PARKING, ETC).

 

Vance Jochim