Parks have 10 months to make self-sufficient plan
By Kyle LoJacono
The Hillsborough Commission voted to revive the after-school program at county parks just less than one month after condemning it to the budget cutting chopping block.
Commissioners voted 4-3 to end the program on July 27 as a way to save $7.5 million from a $50 million budget shortfall. County parks director Mark Thornton said ending the program was the only way to make the department solvent.
The program would have ended on Oct. 3, the first business day of the new fiscal year. However, the commissioners unanimously voted on Aug. 24 to give the parks department until next June to show the service can be self-sufficient.
Commissioner Ken Hagan was one of the supporters of ending the program because it was “broken” and unable to exist without major taxpayer subsidies.
“Our current model is not sustainable,” Hagan said. “We cannot afford to spend $7.5 million for a program that serves 1,880 children.”
Hagan came up with the compromise to offer the program at just 30 parks, down from the current 42.
Hagan said keeping 30 facilities staffed would reduce the cost of the program to as little as $1.1 million.
“You would save on staffing, maintenance, utilities and a lot of other things,” Hagan said.
Thornton suspected the savings would be more modest than Hagan’s prediction, but said it could cut the cost in half.
While no official plan was presented, both Hagan and Thornton said Nye Park in Lutz would likely be one of those 30 sites that would keep the program.
“It would make sense to have the parks spread out, and that’s the only site in that part of the county,” Thornton said.
The new plan would also include reduced fees for parents and guardians sending their children to the program. The cost of a week has been $48, up from $20 two years ago.
“When we increased the fee to generate more revenue for the department, more people left,” Thornton said. “It had the reverse effect and that’s been hurting the budget for the last two years.”
Two years ago there were 6,000 kids enrolled in the after-school parks program, the most ever. Thornton said the department will likely reduce the cost to $38 per week, with discounts to as little as $20 for those receiving free and reduced-price lunches. That would be $10 cheaper a week than at a YMCA or at the county’s similar program at the schools, known as HOST.
In order to break even using Hagan’s estimated $1.1 million cost for the scaled-back program and an average fee of $30, an additional 34,787 children would have to enroll in the after-school service.
“This is not based on instinct,” Hagan said. “It’s based on talking to park directors. If you have a program and you lower the fees, they’re going to come back in droves.”
Commissioner Kevin Beckner was skeptical the program could increase its population by so many in less than a year. He said he does not want to use any of the county’s reserves to subsidize the service any longer.
“How long do you operate at a loss before you decide to pull the plug on an operation?” Beckner asked the other commissioners.
Commissioner Sandy Murman attached an amendment to the vote allowing the county to drop any sites from the program that had fewer than 25 children enrolled.
