By Brian Trompeter
The Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) generates a higher percentage of its operating funds from user fees than what some say are national “best practices.”
Taxpayers might applaud that, but those who focus on income and racial equity think it’s a problem that needs to be corrected – possibly at the cost of nearly $27 million per year – so more lower-income households can participate.
“Much like our school system or libraries, we need to make sure that everyone who lives in Fairfax has equal access to our top-tier system that benefits,” said Stan Wall, a managing partner with the consulting firm HR&A Advisors Inc., told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ Health and Human Services Committee on Jan. 30.
In 2023, FCPA’s cost-recovery efforts brought in 59 percent of its operating funds. Median cost recovery for U.S. parks-and-recreation agencies’ operating budgets in 2023 was 25 percent and dropped to 17 percent in communities with more than 250,000 people.
“Having such a large portion of [FCPA’s] budget reliant upon fees and charges means that these need to be high enough to support expenses that grow every year,” Wall said. “These high fees make programs unaffordable and therefore inaccessible to a large portion of the population and it hampers the Park Authority’s ability to provide equitable services.”
(The Fairfax County government’s Neighborhood and Community Services division, which does recreational/educational programming, recovered 29 percent of its expenses.)
Wall suggested that FCPA officials consider community benefits when setting fees. The agency could reduce some fees by reducing cost-recovery targets and providing subsidies – such as a sliding-scale fee program and flexible vouchers, which could be put toward any recreational offerings – to make all programs more accessible to lower-income people.
HR&A recommended that FCPA use a multi-tiered cost-recovery pyramid that (in a hypothetical example) would charge users the full expense for programs benefiting individuals, such as personal training and golf; 50 to 100 percent of costs for classes, trips and tours; up to 50 percent for camps, athletic fields, nature centers, historic sites and RECenter admissions and passes; and no charge for pools, parks, trails and summer concerts.
Modifying FCPA’s fee model to obtain 30 percent cost recovery instead of the current 59 percent would require about $26.6 million more annually in funding, Wall acknowledged.
Households making $150,000 or more are 40 percent of the county’s total, but 44 percent of FCPA’s class participants, 71 percent of summer-camp attendees and 52 percent of golfers. They also make up 39 percent of RECenter members, but just 15 percent of participants in the Rec-PAC program for elementary-school children.
FCPA was founded in 1950 when the racially segregated county was changing from rural to suburban, said Karla Bruce, Fairfax County’s chief equity officer. Black residents initially could not take advantage of the county’s park programs and so created their own recreational opportunities, which later became the Neighborhood and Community Services division, she said.
“It’s not our intention today to suggest that there was any ill will in the initial design of the Park Authority,” Bruce said. “But we know the things that were designed in 1950 or 1979 reflect the values in the situation in the community at those times.”
Backers of the parks-fee initiative said they were not asking for additional funds in the upcoming fiscal 2025 budget and will work with county and park officials and conduct public outreach before making another presentation to supervisors this fall.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay (D) was pleased by the discussion.
When the county put its One Fairfax equity policy in place, “this is exactly the type of hard conversation we wanted to have,” he said.
Baer succeeds acting public-works director Christine Horner, who is moving to the Yosemite area in California. Horner stayed on board for Baer’s first few days to help provide a smooth transition, officials said.
Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert praised Horner’s service at the Town Council’s Jan. 29 meeting.
“She has just been invaluable, amazing,” Colbert said. “She has done everything with a smile on her face and with ease. Thank you for everything you did for Vienna.”
