Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Bob Rizzo, city parks and maintenance superintendent, looks over the Heritage Orchard. The Parks and Recreation Commission has recommended improvements to the orchard.

Parks Commissioners seek information on fund interest

By Sarah Lombardo

The Saratoga Parks and Recreation Commission has made a request to the city's finance director for information on the whereabouts and use of interest on a fund of a little more than $2 million.

The commissioners said the request was made in an effort to facilitate spending of the Park and Recreation Development fund, set aside for the building or enhancement of new community facilities. Although the request was sent out during the second week of May, commissioners have yet to receive a response. Finance Director Thomas Fil said that's because he isn't sure what kind of information the commissioners want.

"I will be happy to give them access to information once I know what they want," he said.

The questions surrounding the fund stem from problems the commissioners have had in being able to spend it. By law, the development fund cannot be spent on maintenance, but most of the projects commissioners had in mind for the fund will require maintenance later on. And therein lies the problem: The city does not have the money to spend on maintenance.

"We're in a Catch-22 situation," commission chairwoman Kathryn Weiner said. "We cannot use any of that $2 million to maintain any of what we do."

The interest the fund accumulates is not bound by that rule. Weiner said it occurred to the commissioners earlier this year that perhaps the interest could be used to maintain projects paid for with the fund. But where is the interest?

"We always assumed the interest dollars are going back into the fund," Weiner said. "Apparently, it goes into the [city's] general fund. They say it gets spent on park maintenance, but it's not earmarked."

Fil said it is within the city's rights to put the interest in the general fund because that is where money for park maintenance comes from. Fil also pointed out that over the years, the development fund's balance has not always been as high as it is now, and it has not earned a steady level of interest.

"The balance of the fund fluctuates," he said. "In the past few years, we've had a surge of construction, so the balance has grown to what it is now."

The fund is derived from fees charged for new construction. When there is a high level of construction in the city, the fund grows. That money can only be used for community projects.

Last year, many residents participated in a workshop to set goals and priorities for spending the fund. Last month, the Parks and Recreation Commission revised the list, trying to keep in mind the city's budget constraints and minimize projects that would require substantial maintenance.

Some of the projects included community center renovation, play areas and equipment at Kevin Moran and Gardiner parks, restrooms at Wildwood Park that meet the Americans with Disabilities Act standards, improvements to the city's Heritage Orchard, improvements to the Warner Hutton House Teen Center, school playground improvements and trail improvements.

But the projects still require some maintenance funding.

Mayor Gillian Moran said that earmarking the fund's interest would probably not improve the situation, adding that her understanding is that the amount the city spends each year on park maintenance is higher than the amount of interest the development fund accumulates.

"A proposal to tie that interest up in specific projects should be looked at with great caution," she said.

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