It’s time for the next phase of a study on consolidating Tulsa city and county parks.
The first phase of the study involved a consulting firm talking to policy makers and managers to get a clear picture of the park systems. Tulsa's Leadership Vision, Inc., Parks Committee Chair Howard Barnett said there was clearly an important finding.
"Neither system has the financial resources to do all the things, A) That they'd like to do, and B) That the public wants them to do," Barnett said.
The next phase of the study will take about 10 weeks, and it may start by March 1. It will inventory park system assets and look at legal obstacles to consolidating the parks systems, among other things.
Barnett said one benefit the firm they hired already pointed out in the first phase of the study was access to property tax revenue.
"Part of sustainability is based on the ability to plan," Barnett said. "If you know you've got this revenue coming in for X years at X amount, you can do a lot of planning and you don't end up with these — you know, you're in the middle of trying to do something and suddenly the funding evaporates."
Tulsa County can use property tax for its operations, but the city is only allowed to use sales tax revenue.
The city and county may one day consolidate their park operations, but that won’t stop the city’s move to sell surplus parks. Mayor Dewey Bartlett said he’s asking the city parks director for another list of 20 potential surplus parks.
"We're going to continue on and get rid of pieces of property that are just not beneficial and certainly not being utilized today, but also there's no future in keeping them and spending the money to do so," he said.
Bartlett says proceeds from surplus sales could give a future parks group a good starting fund.
