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Dec. 18, 2003
King County Parks update
Dear Parks supporter:
This has been a tremendous year for parks. We have made great strides in our effort to stabilize parks
financially and operationally by building on last year’s solid foundation and continuing to implement the business transition plan created by
the Metropolitan Parks Task Force. Again, many of you played a significant role by being among the 1,200 people who
attended a public meeting or filled out an online survey to let us know how we are doing and what you would like to see in the future.
After last year’s dramatic slimming of the budget, this year we concentrated on generating new revenue for parks
through entrepreneurial ventures and a voter-approved levy that will provide a long-term stable funding source.
New entrepreneurial initiatives we have implemented enhance people’s park experience and expand recreational
opportunities. These activities are expected to generate between $700,000 and $800,000 to support the maintenance
and operations of King County Parks. This year:
- The Marymoor Concert Series was launched, generating $259,000 for King County Parks.
- The King County Fair Board was reconfigured to help make the fairgrounds a facility that attracts events and generates revenue year round. The new board is designed to attract people with skills that will help bring events to the facilities and market the fairgrounds as a place to have events any time of year.
- We kicked off the Cougar Mountain Trail Running Series giving area runners the opportunity to participate in this sport that is growing in popularity. The series generated $8,400 and significant volunteer trail maintenance for parks.
- Party packages were made available at pools and gyms.
In a display of confidence for parks, voters approved a modest levy to
support King County parks. The levy will generate roughly $12 million a year for four years to support the more than 25,000
acres of parks in King County. The owner of a $250,000 house will contribute roughly $12.50 a year to help maintain and
operate more than 100 miles of trails, 68 baseball fields, 61 soccer fields, 7 pools, 88 picnic areas, 34 playgrounds, 27 tennis courts, 13
boat launch sites, six fishing piers, four community gardens, a climbing rock, the area's best off leash dog park and the world class King County Aquatic Center.
We had a successful King County Fair with music acts, cow pie bingo, fair food and lots of animals.
Enhancements to fairground buildings, a newly configured board, and improvements to the fair will help us build next year on an already successful event.
We also implemented new fees including a parking fee at Marymoor, which will generate about
$300,000 to support maintenance and operations of King County Parks. In October we made payment more convenient by installing
15 automated machines and put in a booth at the east gate of the park. The automated machines resulted in increased compliance
and reduced rush hour traffic driving through Marymoor Park.
As you recall, at public meetings and in surveys, many people voiced their support for modest fee increases
that also have a provision for those who cannot afford the fee. We have taken that advice to heart. After last year’s fee increase,
attendance has been higher than expected indicating that fees are within a comfortable level for those who use facilities. At the
end of this year, we expect park users will have contributed $3 million in fees toward the operation of parks.
We continued to seek ways to cut costs and are implementing several that are consistent with
our mission to conserve natural resources, protect the environment and deliver a high level of service.
- A new computer controlled lighting system will save roughly $31,000 and self-compacting garbage cans at Marymoor will cut down on labor costs and trips to the landfill.
- The Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center has several new environmentally friendly features: new benches are made of recycled plastic, a water filtration system is made from recycled glass and new waterless urinals, low flow toilets and timed showers and sinks will help save $10,000 annually.
We continued working with cities to transfer local, urban parks and pools, keeping them open for public use.
- This month we transferred the final urban pool, Mt. Rainer. The Kent, Auburn and Si View pools were transferred earlier this year.
- The transfer of Grandview Park helped create the first large off-leash dog area in South King County.
- The 17 pools and 10 parks that have been transferred to cities will save the parks $7 million.
And, our concentration on partnerships is bearing fruit. By working with groups that use King County parks, we are able to meet the public need for enhanced recreational facilities in a time of budget cuts.
- A partnership with Northshore Youth Soccer will bring up to four much-needed lit, synthetic turf fields to thousands of athletes in North King County.
- We provided more than $1 million in grants to support youth sports throughout King County.
- We launched a new partnership program, the Association Development and Operation Partnerships (ADOP), to empower organizations that use parks to use their sweat equity and resources to improve the facilities they use.
At the beginning of next year we should have some exciting announcements about major sponsorship of King County Parks and some new entrepreneurial ventures.
Your continued support of King County parks has made our challenging transition successful, thus far. We appreciate your continued involvement and willingness to give us your feedback and time. I look forward to a new year that will bring even better things for King County parks.
Sincerely,
Ron Sims
King County Executive
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Updated: Dec. 18, 2003
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