After a decade of expanding its parks and libraries, Broward County government is running out of money to keep them open.
by: Scott Wyman
FORT LAUDERDALE - At Brian Piccolo Park in Cooper City, dozens of adult softball teams take to the fields on Wednesday nights. Demand is so high that teams wait in line for hours to sign up for league play and can still wind up being turned away.
At the Fern Forest Nature Center in Coconut Creek, a lone hiker took the trail through the maple swamp on a recent muggy afternoon, while others ate lunch at nearby picnic tables.
They could all soon find the gates locked.
After a decade of expanding its parks and libraries, Broward County government is running out of money to keep them open. Nature centers and most regional parks could close two days a week, libraries could shut on Sundays and free computer classes and recreational programs might be abolished.
Laura Harker, a portrait photographer in Pompano Beach, is among those wishing the county could find some other answer. "I enjoy coming and getting some fresh air and some peace and quiet," Harker said while lunching in Fern Forest.
Like a family that used a windfall to buy a boat and then didn't have the money to fuel it, the county got in deeper than it can afford.
The county spent almost $540 million on expanding parks and libraries since 1999. Officials preserved environmentally sensitive land from development, built new parks with water playgrounds and sports fields, and constructed libraries with larger book collections and computer labs.
Voters overwhelmingly favored the work in referendums held in 1999 and 2000, but county commissioners now must cover a $109 million budget deficit and are cutting spending out of fear of a tax revolt.
Commissioners have faced criticism that the expansion projects, particularly the cricket stadium at Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, are examples of government largesse. But as it moves toward approving a budget plan within the next six weeks, the commission is also facing a backlash from library and parks patrons.
County Administrator Bertha Henry and commissioners said they want to keep the library and parks system as intact as possible despite the cuts. So far in budget discussions, officials have chosen to trim hours and offerings throughout the network of 37 libraries, 18 parks and 25 natural sites rather than permanently close any location.
"Our budgets are suffering right now but it won't always be that way," Commissioner Kristin Jacobs said. "The parks and libraries are built and the land preserved, and when things get back to normal, they will still be there."
It's the second year of cuts for both parks and libraries.
Regional parks have been closed Tuesdays except during spring and summer school breaks under cuts made last year and would be closed Wednesdays as well under this year's tentative budget plans. One park in each section of the county would remain open. Holiday closures would expand with parks open next year only on Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day.
If libraries are closed on Sundays as suggested, hours at the county's largest libraries will have been slashed by a third over the two-year period.
Library computer labs would remain open, but administrators would drop free classes on everything from computer basics to resume-writing. The classes drew more than 47,000 participants last year. The parks department would stop programs such as Halloween parties and springtime egg hunts.
With patronage at parks and libraries topping 15 million visits a year, the cuts are among the most visible that county commissioners are considering. Public reaction has officials looking for some alternatives.
Last week, commissioners asked staff to look at higher recreation fees to keep adult leagues at Brian Piccolo Park running Wednesday nights. They also want to see if federal grants or user fees could finance the computer classes or if high-school volunteers could teach them. And, they want to explore keeping one library in each section of the county open on Sundays.
"It does seem a bit ironic, but I don't think anyone foresaw the financial shape we'd be in," said Lisa Baumbach-Reardon, an environmental activist and supporter of the 2000 parks referendum. "I know the county is in a hard place and it's very hard to weigh where to make the cuts, but these services should be a priority."
From: Sun-Sentinel
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