July 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 15

for each resident living in the jurisdictions he or
she serves. Larger agencies generate even less -
agencies serving at least 500,000 residents generate just $5.84 in revenue, per capita.
Another way to look at the impact of agency-generated revenue is to examine cost recovery as a percentage of operating expenditures. While the typical
park and recreation agency recovers 28 percent of its
operating expenditures from non-tax revenues, the
percentage is significantly lower at urban and larger
agencies. Agencies serving populations of at least
250,000 recover nearly 21 percent of their operating
expenditures from revenues, while even larger agencies (serving a population of at least 500,000) have a
median cost recovery of just 17 percent.
Offerings
Programming is a key method of engagement
that drives the use of park and recreation facilities. The typical urban and larger agency offers
620 programs each year; 297 of those programs
are fee-based events. The program and activity
offerings at urban and larger park and recreation
agencies can be as diverse as the needs and desires of the residents they serve. Urban agencies
are more likely than other agencies to offer their
residents programming and activities for:
* Health and wellness education
* Natural and cultural history activities
* Visual arts
* Cultural crafts
* Performing arts
Urban and larger park and recreation agencies also are leaders in their communities in offering out-of-school time (OST) services. OST
programs are critical providers of child care, affording parents and caregivers the opportunity to
earn a living. These programs include education
about nature and nutrition, tutoring, mentoring
and enrichment opportunities that improve the
mental, physical and emotional health of youth.
Eighty-seven percent of urban and larger park
and recreation agencies offer summer camp programs for their communities' children, with more
than 7 in 10 of these agencies also delivering programs for teens and afterschool care as part of
their OST offerings. Urban and larger agencies
also are more likely to offer before-school pro-

grams (31 percent) and full daycare (16 percent).
The white paper shows that urban and larger park
and recreation agencies have more park acreage per
resident and deliver a more extensive menu of service offerings and programming than do other agencies. They likely are also delivering these amenities
with fewer human and financial resources on a per
capita basis than are other agencies.
The only way to truly understand how your park
and recreation agency compares to its peers, however, is to interact with the NRPA Park Metrics and
report resources. The data from these resources
help inform park and recreation professionals. The
wealth of insights gleaned from NRPA Park Metrics
will be even stronger when all park and recreation
agencies - including those in urban settings - enter and update their data. You can start the process
today by going to www.nrpa.org/metrics. If you
need help getting started, drop us a line.
Kevin Roth, Ph.D., is NRPA's Vice President of Research
(kroth@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

July 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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