On average, park and recreation agencies derive three-fifths of their operating expenditures from general fund tax support, although the percentage of funding from general fund tax support tends to be lower at agencies with larger operating budgets. The next biggest source of revenue for most agencies is earned/generated revenues, responsible for an average of 25 percent of operating expenditures.

When it comes to annual revenue, agencies typically generate $20.11 for each resident living in the jurisdiction it serves and recovers 27.3 percent of its operating expenditures from non-tax revenues. The amount of cost recovery differs greatly from agency to agency based on the agency’s portfolio of facilities and programming, the demographics of the populace served, agency mission and possible revenue mandates from the agency’s governing jurisdictions.

Beyond day-to-day operations, park and recreation agencies have a median of $4,007,250 in capital expenditures budgeted over the next five years. Not at all surprising is that the larger the agency, the larger the size of the five-year capital budget. On average, just over half of the capital budget is designated for renovation, while 31 percent is geared toward new development.