Every day, all across the US, tens of thousands of local, state, regional and national public sector agencies and various nonprofit sector organizations strive to provide an abundance of park, recreation and related services.
Each year, an increasing number of these public and nonprofit entities are contracting to prepare major single-property site plans and multiple-property master plans for the physical components of their urban park systems. They often spend $200,000 to $500,000 on these extensive plans. The costly and lengthy site and master plans recommend enormous investments ranging from $100 million to more than $1 billion for each community’s acquisition and development capital improvement projects.
Although these expensive plans are being prepared by highly qualified consulting firms, these companies do not normally have or subcontract any revenue specialists as part of their planning teams. As a result, the lengthy documents contain limited information, if any at all, about how to mobilize the hundreds of millions of dollars that are vital to funding the numerous recommended projects.
Once the realization sets in that no accompanying revenue plan was prepared to complement each of the site and master plans, negative impacts begin to occur. Many significant and worthwhile property acquisition and facility development projects across the nation are often significantly reduced in scope, delayed, eliminated or funded through general obligation bonds or other forms of debt service. The lack of a revenue plan can double or triple the basic costs of the projects. These disappointing scenarios repeat themselves over and over every year across our country.
Public and nonprofit entities can begin to solve this growing financial dilemma by requiring that their master or site plans be accompanied by a request for a capital improvement revenue plan, which will take the vision to the next level by thinking through the financing of the projects.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own. Want to have your voice heard? Sign up today for SmartBrief on Parks and Recreation.
