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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01(B) Park planning and funding updateCity of Prior Lake | 4646 Dakota Street SE | Prior Lake MN 55372 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT ITEM: 1B MEETING DATE: April 17, 2023 PREPARED BY: Steve Hart, Parks & Recreation Manager PRESENTED BY: Steve Hart AGENDA ITEM: Park planning and funding update STRATEGIC PRIORITY: HIGH QUALITY PARKS & TRAILS 4. Achieve community consensus on parks and trails funding by 2024. BACKGROUND: The 2023-2026 Strategic Plan adopted earlier this year includes a strategic priority for High Quality Parks and Trails. Within this strategic priority are several targets including the following: •Adoption of Park and Trails System Plan by December 2023 •Identify funding scenarios for parks and trails by 2024 •Achieve community consensus on parks and trails funding by 2024 At this time, staff is working to develop and initiate action items related to this strategic priority and identified targets. Park and Trails Master Plan: Since the completion of the Draft Park and Trail System Plan in 2018, a number of projects and activities have been completed in several parks. Additionally, there have been several policy discussions regarding the planned direction and repurposing of several neighborhood parks. The original consultant, WSB, has been engaged to continue work on the plan to finalize it. Proposed updates to the plan will include: •Update completed projects and tasks within specific parks. •Update individual and specific neighborhood park recommendations consistent with desired policy goals for future neighborhood park repurposing. •Develop future park development needs plan for remaining growth areas within the city. •Develop neighborhood park rennovation and replacement criteria and strategies. •Adjust 2018 estimated costs for inflation to 2023 estimated costs. As the master plan will be a primary reference point for future park funding, this is seen as a necessary first step towards being able to indentify a funding strategy for parks and trails. Staff anticipate bringing the completed final plan to City Council in Fall of 2023 for adoption. Park funding strategy update: Concurrently, work is being done to explore possible future parks funding strategies. Options for funding parks includes bonding, park referendum, local option sales tax, and/or general tax levy increase. Staff will evaluate these options. Staff is currently updating the city’s long-range Item 1B Page | 2 financial plan to incorporate the financial impact of levy supported and referendum supported funding scenarios. A referendum is specifically cited as a potential funding strategy in the Implementation Plan chapter of the Draft Park and Trails System Plan. Staff will be looking for input from the City Council on which funding options to pursue. If the direction is to consider a park referendum when would the City Council want to place this on a ballot? Options could include placing it on the November 2024 general election ballot or holding a special election at a different time. Based on recent success in other communities, the process for the consideration of a referendum must begin well before election day. Early on, it is important to understand several key pieces of information: which specific projects will be funded by a referendum, estimates of how much those projects will cost, and what level of support is there in the community for a parks bond referendum. The completion of the Draft Park and Trail System Plan will identify priorities and include high level cost estimates which will then be used to propose projects to be included in a future referendum. Staff have begun to lay out a timeline of activities based on a potential referendum in November of 2024, as this is the soonest a referendum could reasonably be held. In addition, staff has met with Rapp Strategies, a consultant firm that has worked with several local communities and school districts to support the development of strategy, materials, communication, and engagement for referendums. Other cities that have recently passed a successful park bond referendum or local option sales tax have put considerable resources into the strategy and communication of any upcoming ballot measure. Some of the recommended actions (with related expenses) that should be considered include: • Develop cost estimates for activities identified in the Park and Trail System Plan • Understand tax impacts on citizens for different referendum packages • Engage an existing commission or create a special task force of community members to help guide the referendum planning process • Establish a dedicated website as a central location for all referendum information • Administer a statistically accurate survey of the community to gauge support for a potential referendum, and to what funding level • Develop marketing materials to educate the public (video, print, digital) • Election planning and expenses • Strategy and communication consultation In the work session update, estimated costs for the actvities listed above and other financial impacts will be presented for discussion and planning. Item 1B Page | 3 Initial high-level estimates of taxpayer impact of a bond referendum with a 20-year and 25-year term are shown in the table below. Bond Term Estimated Property Value (median valued home) Scenario A $20M Scenario B $40M Scenario C $60M 20-year $418,400 $108 $216 $324 25-year $418,400 $94 $187 $281 The bond term will be determined based on the expected life of the park improvements and the taxpayer impact. A shorter term is preferable if the city can manage the tax impact (annual debt levy). The city will pay less in total interest over the life of the bonds and from a rating perspective it is favorable to amortize general obligation debt over a shorter term. SUMMARY: Staff is requesting City Council input and direction on funding options for continued evaluation. If City Council direction includes continued consideration for a park referendum, the earliest that a park referendum could be developed is the November 2024 general election.