But its backlog of maintenance and repair projectsis even worse.
The problem is so thorny, in fact, that ajust-released Milwaukee County Department of Audit report on the park systemcould only estimate how much is needed to plug the hole. The Parks Departmentcalculated that repairing and maintaining its aging facilities and roads wouldcost about $275 million. But the county auditors found that those numbers were“unreliable,” thanks to a crashed computer hard-drive that lost some data,software that doesn’t always accurately calculate the total cost of a repair,and the lack of personnel who can do a thorough assessment of park properties.
The auditors concluded, “the Parks deferredmaintenance figure likely exceeds $200 million, overwhelms available resourcesand is rising. Addressing this issue will require the County to make toughdecisions concerning the direction of the Parks system as a whole.”
- They provided some recommendations forpolicy-makers:
- Replacesome facilities with lower-maintenance structures
- Expandpublic/private partnerships to generate revenue for maintenance and improvementof infrastructure
- Consider selling or transferring land to a municipality or nonprofit entity,although legal requirements may not allow it
- Act onParks Director Sue Black’s idea to allow some developed parkland to return toits natural state
Not included in the recommendations is increasingthe sales tax to move the Parks Department off of the property tax levya moveapproved by 51% of county voters in a November 2008 advisory referendum. Tofund the operations of the parks and begin to address the deferred maintenancewould require less than a half-cent increase in the sales tax. Also,approximately 30% of the sales tax would be raised from non-county residents.But raising the sales tax requires the state Legislature and the governor’sapprovaland legislative leaders, the local business community and Gov. JimDoyle have rejected that move.
“A Day of Reckoning”
The auditors called it a “day of reckoning” for theparks system as a wholethe result of a steady decline in funding and staffingfor what had once been the county’s pride and joy.
Operating budgets have declined from a high of $98million in 1978 (in 2009 dollars) to $43.7 million now. And while propertytaxes supported about 84% of the parks’ total budget in 1962, it now accountsfor 56% of the parks budget. Nonprofit groups, private donors and corporationshave picked up the slack.
They found that full-time staffing had dropped froma high of 1,327 in 1980 to 510 in 2010, with increased reliance on seasonal andpart-time workers and a reduction of skilled workers.
And don’t look to the county for a fresh infusion offunds. Under County Executive Scott Walker’s leadership, the county budget’sstructural deficit stands at an estimated $78 million.
Jewels and Eyesores
The auditors concluded that the lack of support forthe 15,000 acres of parkland has led to a two-system Parks Department, one withhigh-profile “jewels” along with decaying “eyesores.”
Jewels included the BoernerBotanical Gardens, the Mitchell ParkDomes, the North Point Lighthouse, BradfordBeach, the DavidSchulz AquaticCenter at Lincoln Park, McKinley Marina, and the facilities at Lake Park.The common denominator seems to be corporate support for and partnership withthose parks facilities.
On the other hand, the auditors identified“eyesores” such as Grant Park’s golf course clubhouse (its shower stalls are“full of rust,” and a veranda is “fatigued and decaying, and has been deemedunsafe for public use”); Jacobus Park (the pavilion is prone to flooding,gutters are decaying, the restroom’s ceiling is moldy and steps are crumbling);the beach house at Doctors Park, which is boarded up; the doorway of a buildingin Lindbergh Park, which is “riddled with bullet holes”; and St. Martin’s Park,where a building and outdoor basketball court “show evidence of absoluteneglect.”
