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Taking Your City’s Fiscal Temperature?
Yesterday, the National League of Cities released their 2018 City Fiscal Conditions survey showing that despite some signs of optimism, revenue growth is experiencing a slowdown while services and expenditures continue to increase. A few other key findings from the report:
- Tax revenue, while growing, is growing slower than in years past
- General Fund expenditures are outpacing revenues
- Employee wages, public safety and infrastructure are the areas where communities tended to increase spending.
I’d venture a guess that these findings come as no surprise to the park and rec community, and that the cautious optimism reported by city finance officials are tempered by uncertainty. When will we face another economic downturn? Will federal tax policy continue to be a drag on local balance sheets? While these questions may be beyond the ken of even the sharpest of park and rec fiscal prognosticators, it does point to the need for continued strategic investments in a relatively low interest rate environment, as well as a clarion call to ensure that whatever future shocks local government finances face, we are prepared to minimize the impact on our employees and programmatic offerings our residents count on us to provide. Ok — enough eat your vegetables for a Friday afternoon, onto some good news!
Historic Day for LWCF!
Rep. Rob Bishop is a conservative Republican from northern Utah. Rep. Raul Grijalva is a liberal Democrat from Tucson, Arizona. These long serving members of congress and the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee rarely see eye-to-eye on policy issues. But yesterday, these two came together on an landmark agreement that would offer some much needed stability to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).The bipartisan deal hammered out by Bishop and Grijalva would:
- Permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund
- Dedicate 40 percent of the fund to the State Assistance program
- Provide D.C. and U.S. Territories an equitable share of the LWCF stateside allocations
Those of you who’ve been around for a few years know very well that NRPA and hundreds of other organizations nationally have been rolling the proverbial boulder up the hill every year in hopes of advancing an LWCF package that would provide the program some predictability. This agreement would do just that. While there are a number of hurdles still to jump, we are hopeful that this agreement will catalyze action among the bipartisan legions of supporters in the House and in the Senate, and that this fall we can rest assured that investments in our parks and special places will be safe for years to come. Today I tip my hat to Rep. Bishop and Rep. Grijalva for showing that there are things that we as a nation can come together on, and supporting this landmark legislation that protects our parks and natural places at the local, regional, state and federal level is one of them.
Kevin O'Hara
Vice President of Urban and Government Affairs
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Featured
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Yesterday, the House Committee on National Resources passed a permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) out of committee, with a 40% guarantee for the stateside program, a win for parks across the country. NRPA President and CEO, Barbara Tulipane, issued a statement applauding the committee on their actions. There’s still work to be done, though. We need your help to ensure Congress continues to value the preservation, development, and access to outdoor recreation through continued funding for LWCF. Take action now by asking your member of Congress to #SaveLWCF.
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Park and recreation agencies are known for helping children stay active, engaged and connected to nature — but not everyone knows that they're helping children meet their career goals, too! It's up to us to make sure Congress knows about this important work. The Afterschool Alliance is co-hosting a briefing on September 18 on federal Career and Technical Education and Afterschool Programs — help us spread the word by inviting your members of Congress and their staff to attend and learn about the benefits of afterschool programs!
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Stories That Matter
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National Recreation and Park Association
We aren’t talking about locusts and we aren’t talking about aliens. We are talking about people zooming around town on small, motor-assisted, dockless scooters and bikes.
New York Magazine
Hunter’s Point South redeems an area that was a wasteland of construction rubble and left desolate for decades.
Proliferation of music festivals and other events across London's green spaces means disruption and restrictions to access for residents.
Tulsa World
For George Kaiser, Gathering Place is so much more than a park.
Tulsa World
Tulsa’s reputation as a home to fabulous green space can be traced to Mohawk Park, one of the largest urban/city parks in the world.
Fast Company
Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. Here’s how to recover from a bad speech.
CityLab
Why do revamped areas remain barren after so much thought and money are put into redesigning them?
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Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn Centennial Park can hold a million gallons of rainwater to help control the city’s increasing floods.
The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has published their 2018 ASLA Professional Awards and awarded their top honors to projects across the U.S. and Canada.
Crains New York Business
The price of land in New York City and complex construction would contribute to the sky-high expense.
Next City
Mowing-to-own in St. Louis. Installing trees and picket fences in Philly. How sweat equity and community engagement improves the economics of vacant-land reuse.
Marketplace
Libraries and parks are "social infrastructure," spaces and organizations that shape the way people interact.
Meeting of the Minds
In order to realize its potential, green infrastructure must be designed holistically in partnership with the community, delivered at scale, and maintained for the long-term.
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The move of tens of thousands of drawings, texts and pictures to the archives of the Chicago Public Library puts Chicagoans in closer contact with the history of their parks and the city that grew up around them.
To understand why police don’t treat camping outside as a crime, it helps to know some Seattle history.
A study of public meetings in nearly 100 Greater Boston cities showed that white people accounted for 95 percent of participants.
Fans of an underused Chicago bike hope a welcoming new mural will encourage more cycle traffic and amplify the green space’s value as an important community asset.
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Next City
A study published this month in the British Journal of Educational Psychology suggests they could.
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The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF)
NEEF is offering $200,000 in grants to support response efforts on public lands that have recently been impacted by natural disasters. Park agencies working with sites impacted by one of the many natural disasters in 2017 and 2018 are encouraged to apply for funding. The application period closes today, September 14.
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Because Everyone Deserves a Great Park
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© 2018 National Recreation and Park Association, All Rights Reserved
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