Sounding Off on Budget Woes

Our inaugural “SoundOff” column, which appeared in the August issue, asked park and recreation professionals to identify what cuts they are making in the face of dwindling municipal budgets. Incredibly insightful, your feedback ranged from delaying the opening of aquatic facilities to downsizing summer concert series.

We also went to the professionals at Lee’s Summit (Mo.) Parks and Recreation and asked how they are coping with challenging municipal budgets. Administrator J. Thomas Lovell Jr., CPRP, shares his agency’s concerns--and solutions--below:

“We are currently designing some special promotions and packages for ‘Stay at Home Vacations.’ We will work with local merchants and weave their services (spa treatments, nights at local motels, meals at restaurants, rounds of golf, drinks at coffee shops, and so forth) into our facilities and special events to develop these family weekend packages. The hook here is that what people would spend on travel alone would cover the costs of the package.

We are also opening three new venues this summer, and we have no real data to base any impact our economy will have on these operations except for positive due to the fact that more people will be staying home for vacation and increasing our attendance locally. It may affect our pricing, but our price points have been market-driven in our business plans and we will not know their effectiveness until we open the doors.

Our biggest concerns are more long-term oriented, with sales-tax performance and our ability to pay debt on capital project notes. This could cause us to defer future projects.”