Testimony on Park Fees, NC Legislature

This legislative body will be considering and voting on Ordinance 86-2002 to institute new and increased fees from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums. This proposal is fatally flawed and we urge the Nassau County Legislature to reject it in its entirety.

We are asking you to consider the following basic principles:

The properties and facilities under the jurisdiction of the Parks Department were bought and maintained with public monies. They belong to the residents and taxpayers of Nassau County. County Government is the trustee and not the “owner” of these facilities. It has the obligation to provide free and unrestricted access to all facilities to all county residents.

The purpose in acquiring and maintaining parks, preserves and historic sites is to “Provide Low Cost Family Recreation to Nassau County Residents”. Parks should not be viewed as profit centers, that is not their function. Parks must be paid for through a broad based tax levied as equally as possible on all residents. Currently the only such taxes are the real estate tax and the county sales tax. Park fees should only be applied to those services that require abnormal administrative time or high and unusual costs. Fees whose only purpose is to generate revenue negates the very theory of why public parks are maintained in the first place. Fees without a corresponding service or for reduced services are bad business and more importantly bad government.

Instituting and raising fees as requested in the ordinance before you borders on economic discrimination. They negatively impact those residents with low and limited incomes, i.e. seniors, young families with children, retirees on fixed incomes, etc. Thus the people who need the park system for their recreation the most are the first to be unable to afford it. In these troubled financial times this is unconscionable. Common sense and principles of community service would indicate that existing fees should be lowered, increasing attendance, which in turn would increase revenues.

We are aware that this body has been trying to “tweak” the ordinance to make it palatable. As admirable as that effort may be, we contend that most of the new fees and increases are so flawed, in the public interest; they should be rejected in their entirety now. In the future, each item should be pored over, reasonable and logical items extrapolated and incorporated into a new ordinance for your consideration.

For now, It might be of greater value for this legislature to ask the Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums to identify management initiatives and operational improvements which will allow them to function more efficiently, effectively and economically with minimum resources. The park system has been crumbling for over ten years and continues to do so. Radical innovation is needed to stop and reverse that process. We have seen no evidence to date that this is happening. Creating and raising fees is not the answer!