As the number of Texans living in urban areas continues to climb, the importance of local parks rises. In addition to the demand from growing populations, trends toward greater participation in youth sports and increased physical activity are expanding park usage. Of course, parks are also vital to smaller communities as well.
Local parks are important components of the overall parks system which includes national and state facilities. While the primary purposes of different parks vary, there are certain common elements such as offering a venue for outdoor activities.
Most Texans consider parks and recreational opportunities to be valuable attributes of a community as they are associated with improved quality of life. Additionally, parks provide a positive influence on the desirability of communities. Not only do parks enhance the ability to attract viable companies and an educated workforce, they also rank high on characteristics that the aging population looks for in retirement locations.
Moreover, beyond their important role in the daily life of cities large and small, municipal parks are significant generators of economic activity. In fact, my firm recently conducted a study of the impact of local parks across the state and found that they lead to the creation of more than 45,600 jobs through their maintenance and operations activity, capital investment, and direct tourism. (You can see the study in its entirety at www.tprFoundation.org.) Even when this total is adjusted for the effect of tax support necessary to sustain the activity, the economic gains remain quite high, with nearly 38,400 permanent jobs on a “net” basis.
In addition, an analysis of approximately 30 studies by The Perryman Group found a positive impact of about 20% on property values abutting or fronting a passive park area.
Unfortunately, given the current fiscal constraints and priorities confronting numerous government entities, both state and local parks in Texas are struggling to remain financially viable. Funding shortages abound, and many budgets are dwindling. Like state parks, local parks are currently suffering from declining infrastructure and a lack of sufficient resources for maintenance.
Funding for state parks has continued to wane, and Texas ranks at or near the bottom of all states in per capita investment. It is within this context of strong demand for outdoor space and widespread funding difficulties that local municipal parks are operating.
Ironically, on a direct-only basis, parks programs partially pay for themselves. Incremental revenues (from increased receipts and various events) offset about 57.7% of all direct outlays by municipal parks departments. When overall benefits to local economies are considered, they far exceed the cost.
Even so, in such a tight budgetary environment, it is difficult for many cities and counties to adequately maintain and operate local parks, much less expand them to deal with growing needs. As a result of these circumstances, local parks should receive substantial State support. We found that the incremental net fiscal revenue to the State government from local parks activity is approximately $171.6 million per year, or almost 7 times the level of funding proposed by a recent task force.
The economic success of parks, like other facilities, is reliant on investments in their services and amenities. Such investments lead to more usage and increased revenues, while reductions in state and local funding tend to have the opposite effect. Many state parks also incorporate irreplaceable natural beauty or historically significant sites which can be threatened with extreme budget constraints.
A recent poll estimated that 65% of Texans support lifting caps on the distribution of sporting goods sales tax revenue which would increase state park funding. Moreover, grants awarded to municipal parks programs would bring an excellent return with overall benefits far exceeding costs.
Revenue generated from the sales tax on sporting goods can be a way to not only help pay for the operations and maintenance of state parks, but also to increase funding for the acquisition and development of local parks.
Given the fact that local parks are a notable source of retail sales of sporting goods and generate even more in other revenues to the State, allocating a sizable block of proceeds from the tax to local parks represents a logical and beneficial course of action.
Every county and metropolitan area in the Lone Star State benefits from the presence of local parks. Expenditures to support them represent an excellent investment of public resources.