October 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 15

parks and recreation is far less likely to be viewed as making a
strong, positive contribution.
Public officials' perception that parks and recreation does not
make a big contribution to the community's economic development efforts means that they place only a moderate level of
importance on parks and recreation relative to other typically
provided local government services. Specifically, local government officials place parks and recreation only sixth among 10
widely offered local government services. The following rank
higher than parks and recreation in terms of importance:
1. Education
2. Police protection
3. Fire protection
4. Hospitals/Health
5. Transportation
The lessened level of importance that public officials place on
parks and recreation relative to other local government provided services has a significant impact on the level and stability of
funding they provide to their local park and recreation agencies.
While a resounding 83 percent of local government officials
agree that park and recreation services are worth the amount of
tax dollars expended on them each year, only a third of officials
claim their local governments place a high or an essential priority on funding these services.
This means many locales see park and recreation funding as
being more discretionary than other local government provided services. On the positive side, park and recreation agencies
benefit when the local government enjoys a greater budget largess. When presented with a hypothetical increase in the local
government's budget, local government officials indicate they
would allocate an average 14.8 percent of these extra revenues
to their park and recreation agency. Only transportation, education and police protection would receive a larger percentage of
the increased budget dollars.
But, the story is far less sanguine when local governments
face a cut in tax revenues. In this scenario, local government
officials indicate they would cut the park and recreation budget
to the equivalent of 15.2 percent of the overall local government
budget cut. This is the largest funding cut of any of the widely
provided local government services.
But not all government officials view park and recreation
funding as an optional choice. Officials who believe park and
recreation services contribute solutions to key community issues are more likely to believe these services are important and
are more likely to provide the agencies with greater and more
steady funding. The results highlight the need to elevate local
officials' perception of the importance of parks and recreation
to the vitality of their town, city, county or region. To make
this happen, park and recreation advocates must continue to

communicate how these services are a solution to the issues
confronting their communities.
Most notably, the survey highlights the need to close the gap
in public officials' perceptions of how parks and recreation can
drive economic development, and more specifically, to attract and
retain business. Anecdotally, we know that parks and recreation
is one of the reasons businesses and young professionals choose
to relocate to communities. When deciding where to locate, business leaders seek out parks, trails and open spaces because they
contribute to community livability and quality of life. Identifying
opportunities for parks and recreation to participate in a community's efforts to attract and retain businesses could be an effective
way to increase its stature in the eyes of local government officials. But we need harder data to more effectively make this case.
To this end, NRPA has commissioned Dr. Terry Clower at
George Mason University both to update the Economic Value of
Local Parks study and conduct a new research project that will enumerate how parks and recreation is an economic development tool
for the community. Keep an eye out for these resources in 2018.
Kevin Roth, Ph.D., is NRPA's Vice President of Research (kroth@nrpa.org).

Post Show Special

Complete
Station
only $199
Use Code: NRPA17

Bags a low as 2¢!
STOP Overpaying On
Pet Waste Products!

1-800-790-8896
PetWasteEliminator.com
W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7 |

Parks & Recreation

October 2017 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2017 - Parks & Recreation