Patterson Park has numerous permitted activities.  The two most prominent permitted events are festivals that take place in the spring and summer and sports leagues that utilize athletic fields.  Other permitted activities involve the renting of pavilions, use of the ice rink and other events.

Each of these permitted activities are charged a permit fee.[1]  Even though Patterson Park is heavily utilized for permitted events, none of the permit fees are returned to Patterson Park and there appears to be no calculation of maintenance costs associated with these permitted events.[2]

For instance, in fiscal year 2016, the Recreation and Parks Department reported income of $563,315 in permit fees from approximately 2000 permits across the entire park system.  Those fees were used to fund the Recreation and Parks Departments Park Programs & Events division.  That division manages the permit process and “coordinates volunteers, Nature Programs, Special Events, and Park Rangers.”[3]  Given that an entire division of Recreation and Parks is funded by fees generated by permits, there is little chance that permit fees generated at Patterson Park will be returned to Patterson Park.  Even if such fees were used to maintain Patterson Park, such fees would likely be well below park maintenance costs.

[1] See, Baltimore City Recreation and Parks Department, Application for General Park Use Permit (2016), http://bcrp.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/General%20Park%20Use%20Application%202016.pdf; Baltimore City Recreation and Parks Department, Special Event Permit Application, http://bcrp.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/SPECIAL%20EVENT%20APPLICATION.pdf; Baltimore City Recreation and Parks Department, Addendum to DRP Special Events Application: Patterson Park, https://bcrp.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/Patterson%20Park%20Addendum%20to%20Department%20of%20Recreation%20and%20Parks%20Events%20Application%20(PDF).pdf.

[2] Baltimore City, Fiscal 2018 Budget, Agency Detail 470-72 (Vol. II), https://bbmr.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/Agency_Detail_Vol2_FINAL_2017-05-05.pdf

[3] Baltimore City, Fiscal 2018 Budget, Agency Detail 470 (Vol. II).