There is substantial evidence that creating a special benefits district to pay for parks will be supported.  For instance, the Trust for Public Land’s LandVote database indicates that in 2017, thirty-six ballot measures were introduced to create and preserve parks and open space throughout the country.[1]  86% of those measures passed.[2]  Since 1998, 75% of similar measures have passed in various jurisdictions throughout the United States.[3] The Trust for Public Land’s data indicates that there is broad-based support for the implementation of taxes to conserve and improve parks and other open space.

The Trust for Public Land’s data is further supported by a 2016 survey conducted by the National Recreation and Park Association.[4]  In that survey, nine out of ten Americans indicated that “parks and recreation are important local government services.  The survey also found that 74% of Americans would pay more taxes to support increased spending by parks and recreation agencies.  With respect to politicians, 72% of Americans were more likely or somewhat more likely to vote for local politicians “who make park and recreation funding a priority.”  Incredibly, most of these survey results only had minor variations across party lines, race and age.

Considering the engaged citizens that surround Patterson Park, the millions of dollars of improvements recommended in Patterson Park’s Master Plan and the national and local surveys indicating the importance of parks, the evidence indicates that residents in the neighborhoods surrounding Patterson Park would support creation of a special benefits district at Patterson Park to fund operations and maintenance.

[1] The Trust for Public Land, LandVote, 2017 Measures, www.landvote.org.

[2] Trust for Public Land, LandVote, 2017 Results, www.landvote.org.

[3] Trust for Public Land,  LandVote, Summary of Measure by Year, 1998-Present, www.landvote.org

[4] National Recreation and Park Association, NRPA Americans’ Engagement with Parks Survey (2016), http://www.nrpa.org/globalassets/research/engagement-survey-report.pdf.