Panel Finds Need For Repairs In Parks

Idaho’s cities and counties need a new way to pay for parks and other recreational facilities, a legislative committee says.

The interim committee toured parks across the state over the summer and found plenty of need - from crumbling swimming pools to growing areas that need to build new parks.

“The needs up north are considerable, because we have the tourists,” said Sen. Mary Lou Reed, D-Coeur d’Alene, the only Panhandle lawmaker on the committee. Cities and counties are in “a real pinch,” she said.

The main revenue source for such projects in the past was a federal program called the Land & Water Conservation Fund. That program helped Coeur d’Alene buy part of Tubbs Hill. But those funds have dried up, and nothing has replaced them.

Two years ago, the Legislature created the STORE fund, or State Trust for Outdoor Recreation Enhancement. The idea was to create an endowment with a pot of money. The interest it generated would be given out as matching grants to communities for park projects.

But STORE never was funded.

Last week the interim committee held its final meeting and settled on a three-part package to propose to the Legislature this session. It includes:

Amendments to the law that created STORE. They include setting up a grant-evaluation committee, so once the fund has money there will be a way to decide which communities get it, for which projects. They also allow for corporate and other private donations to the fund.

A concurrent resolution, stating that the Legislature supports the fund idea and encourages deposits of state funds into it when possible. The resolution also would encourage agencies, including local governments and school districts, to work together in planning for communities’ recreation needs.

A bill to divert one cent of every dollar in Idaho Lottery ticket sales into the fund. That would raise about $1 million a year to get the fund going. Lottery proceeds now are split between the state’s building fund and a maintenance fund for school buildings.

Reed said the STORE fund probably needs about $10 million to do its job properly.

One example of need is repair or replacement of swimming pools built in many Idaho communities just after World War II.

“Investments that have been made over the years do tend to need maintenance and repair,” Reed said.

, DataTimes