November 12, 2002

The face of King County’s Parks and Recreation system will change with today’s adoption by the Metropolitan King County Council of a new parks business plan.

“We are facing a budget challenge that has already had an impact on our parks system. But out of this crisis has come a tremendous opportunity,” said Councilmember Carolyn Edmonds, Chair of the Council’s Natural Resources, Parks and Open Space Committee. “Working with all of the stakeholders, we have created a plan that will keep parks open, and produced a business model that will provide a more stable foundation to keep parks operating.”

Under the new plan, King County will:

• Focus on the maintenance and operation of regional facilities such as Marymoor Park and the King County Aquatic Center and on parks and pools in unincorporated King County.
• Reduce its ownership in park facilities inside city boundaries by working with suburban communities to transfer the facilities to individual cities and organizations that are willing to operate and maintain them. Parks and pools in incorporated communities that are not taken over by cities will be mothballed.
• Raise revenue by leasing areas in county parks that can be used for concessions and allowing advertising to be displayed in county parks and pools. Fees for using pools and county athletic facilities will also increase to reduce subsidies and the impact on the County general fund.
• Increase public-private partnership opportunities to maximize use of public dollars.

“We are changing how we manage King County parks, and how we pay for them,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, Chair of the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee. “We must change if there was any hope of keeping them open in the face of ongoing declines in county revenues. We're preserving as many recreational opportunities as possible by finding entirely new sources of funding to support our regional parks and pools.”

Many of the recommendations that are part of the parks plan came from the Metropolitan Parks Task Force. The panel was created earlier this year when Executive Ron Sims announced that the continuing budget crisis would force the closure of 20 county parks. The goal of the task force was to develop funding strategies that would keep parks open.

“Our parks system has added much to the fabric of life for our County’s residents. It is absolutely crucial that we do everything possible to ensure that these wonderful resources continue to provide recreational opportunities for our constituents and their families,” said Councilmember Jane Hague. “This legislation enables us to do business in many different and creative ways. It creates a park system that involves both the County and suburban cities, a positive step in keeping the system strong.”

“King County residents are devoted to their parks, and the county’s park system is a regional jewel,” said County Executive Ron Sims. “So mothballing parks and pools has been tough because they do play such an important role in so many lives. This plan is an important step in making sure that will never happen again. It will help steer the parks system towards economic self-sufficiency and away from its dependence on the county’s current expense budget.”

“This plan, which has come together in the space of eight months, represents the work of a lot of people who realize just how vital parks are to the people of King County,” said Councilmember Edmonds. “I want to thank the members of the Metropolitan Parks Task Force, the Active Sports and Youth Recreation Commission, as well as the activists and community leaders who help create this plan. Their work has ensured that our parks will stay open now and into the future. This accomplishes a significant move forward in securing our parks and recreation resources. It will be a good foundation for 2003 while we work on putting together a parks levy to establish a permanent source of funding.”