Terrell Brown [TB] says, regarding the per capita costs associated with Mpls
Park and Recreation Board - MPRB ($153 in 1998 according to Urban Land
Institute):
>...Less than $3 per week is the best money the City spends. -snip-
>Spend $500 per capita on parks, it will still be money well spent.
Why stop there? Wouldn't $1,000 per head be even better?
I had 4 people living in our Mpls. home in 1998... at $153 per capita (using
the Urban Land Institute numbers provided by Carol), the MPRB cost my
household $612 in 1998. Is that correct?? Does anyone have a MPRB budget
handy and city census data? It sounds very high to me.
If correct, that amount represents 25% MORE than my county taxes that year,
or 10% MORE than my municipal taxes that year, and is probably on par with
what I paid for sewer and water all year (although I don't have
documentation handy). Is MPRB spending really that high?
In addition, I'll venture that the per capita MPRB budget has nearly doubled
since 1998- especially given the Mayor's huge (30%ish) MPRB budget increase
of last year (which avoided a referendum vote). I know that our parkland
acreage hasn't increased in similar fashion.
How much, or what portion of the overall MPRB budget supports the redundant
admin. overhead associated with the duplicated services (street crews,
garbage collection, police, information technology, personnel functions,
etc.) we discussed earlier? What is the projected growth rate for the cost
of those functions over the next decade?
Placing all our city parklands in a public trust for preservation purposes
would basically cost us nothing-- and there is currently no such protection
afforded our parklands (witness past discussions of land swaps over the
Guthrie siting). There is no magic associated with MPRB-- the magic resides
in the park system itself; the lakes, woods, walkways, parkways and
grasslands. The vision of city forefathers a hundred years ago (in
establishing our park system) should not be confused with prudent, cost
effective preservation, operation and maintenance tactics for the future.
Michael Hohmann
13th Ward
http://www2.visi.com/mahco
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