October 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 47

How Parklands Provide Real Value
Calculating return on investment

C O N S E RVAT I O N

BY MICHAEL KIRSCHMAN

HE JUSTIFICATIONS for cutting county park and recreation budgets have
become so common that it begs the question: Are these cuts actually saving money?
What are the true beneﬁts of park and recreation services? Can these beneﬁts be quantiﬁed?

Unfortunately, administrators often depend
solely on anecdotal evidence, visitation estimates,
or vague " quality of life " statements to justify-or,
more often, cut-park and recreation services.
However, there is reliable research out there to
assist decision makers. If return on investment
(ROI) is important to your community, it is your
responsibility to prove how your parklands add
real value.

Environmental Beneﬁts
The beneﬁts of protecting open space, tree canopies, and watersheds are extensive, as there are
direct correlations to water quality. Even relatively
impermeable soils, such as those found in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte, North Carolina), can
absorb a one-inch rainfall. Remove those trees
and replace them with roads, parking lots, and
roofs, and the same rainfall produces 27,000 gallons of runoff per acre. A 2010 Trust for Public
Land study found that Mecklenburg County Park
and Recreation Department (MCPRD) parklands
provide nearly $19 million in cost savings to the
public in terms of runoff reduction and reduced
water treatment costs. Additionally, the 14,280
acres of parkland tree canopy (77 percent of total park acreage) annually remove 24,341 tons of
carbon dioxide, 413,458 tons of particulate matter,
and 821,553 tons of ozone. Combined with other
air pollution removal, the total value of this service
was calculated at $3,889,000 per year.

Economic Beneﬁts: Increased Property
Values, Tourism and Direct Revenue
Although not well known or understood, parks
provide signiﬁcant economic beneﬁts. The greatest of these derive from higher sale prices and
higher property taxes via the " proximity effect. "
People pay more for homes near parks, especially

natural areas. An analysis of homes sold in Mecklenburg County in 2009 had the following results:
Increased home values and sales due to proximity
to parklands resulted in nearly $4 million in additional county property taxes, while individuals
who sold homes near parklands netted an additional $10 million. That's real tax dollars to the
county, and real dollars to the sellers.
Tourism impacts can be calculated using local tourism spending data and visitation data. In
2010, 311,000 tourists visited Mecklenburg County
speciﬁcally because of parks or activities occurring in the parks, and of those, 151,000 stayed in
hotels. The impact? Total spending by these visitors was $53 million. Total tax receipts exceeded
$4.3 million.
In addition to increased property values and
tourism impacts, park and recreation departments
earn revenue through means such as admissions,
facility rentals, and participation in athletics and
programs. In FY 2012, MCPRD earned $4.6 million
WWW.NRPA.ORG | OCTOBER 2012 |

Marshall Park,
Charlotte,
North Carolina

Parks & Recreation

October 2012 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2012 - Parks & Recreation