Rental fees and other revenues collected at the Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park should go directly into a dedicated fund that would pay for improvements, the popular complex’s advocates say.
A bill to create a special fund for the park advanced out of the City Council Budget Committee on Wednesday despite opposition from Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration.
Bill 75, introduced by Council Chairman Ernie Martin, would set up the Central Oahu Regional Park special fund to require any revenues generated there to pay for "the improvement, maintenance and repair" of the bustling Waipio facility also known as CORP.
Martin told colleagues he introduced the bill on behalf of the park’s advocates. The park is the largest in the area and is busy every weekend with a multitude of organized sports, he said.
By law, fees are charged to those putting on sports tournaments, meetings, workshops or other organized activities, or those who reserve the use of fields, gyms, pools or other facilities. Revenues typically go into the city general fund in the city’s operating budget.
While operations of all parks are paid for out of the operating budget, new facilities and other capital improvements are usually prioritized by the city administration and paid for with bonds through what’s known as the CIP budget. The proposal would allow CORP projects to bypass the time-consuming capital improvements approval process, advocates say.
Martin told committee members that it makes sense to reinvest money generated at the Central Oahu park for improvements and repairs there because it is so heavily used.
"I think in creating this fund, what (park advocates) wanted to see was the fund to be utilized to improve the park, not maintain the park," Martin said. The park has a number of proposed improvements, and community members argue any revenues should help pay for them, he said.
But city Budget Director Nelson Koyanagi told committee members that the administration opposes the plan. The park is one of three in the district that generate revenues, and the three collectively generate about $250,000 annually.
The city budgeted $1.09 million for the operations of Patsy Mink Park alone last year. Creation of the fund would also result in administrative costs "which would likely be borne by the general fund," he said.
"We don’t think this fund, this bill is necessary," Koyanagi said. "There’s only so much revenue that can be spread around." The administration generally opposes the creation of any dedicated funds "unless the fund is self-supporting," he said.
Koyanagi said approving the fund would create a "slippery slope."
"Are you going to create funds for all the different fees that you collect for all the different areas of the city?" he asked. The cumulative impact of all the funds would be the diversion of a significant amount of funds away from the operating budget, which could necessitate a tax increase, he said.
Martin said he thinks precedent was set when the city created the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in the 1990s and decided to let the popular tourist attraction fund itself. At Hanauma Bay enough money is made annually to pay for the preserve’s operations as well as capital improvements.
Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said that a contractor could be hired to bring in tournaments to the park and create other revenue-generating experiences.
Shelly Nakasone, a member of the Central Oahu Regional Park Advisory Committee, testified in favor of the bill, saying the groups that pay the fees want the revenue to pay for improvements there. The bill is "an effective way to ensure those funds set aside for a specific purpose do actually go toward that use," she said.
Marty Burke, co-chairman of CORP’s advisory committee, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that it makes sense for any money generated by a city park to be channeled back.
Besides generating direct revenues, the park provides a boon for area businesses because the complex is now home to sports leagues that consist of participants from across the island and even abroad, Burke said.
The facility, which opened in 2001, could use a number of improvements, including more parking and clay tennis courts, he said.
Giving the park a dedicated fund would allow the facility to bypass the need to compete with other facilities for capital improvements money, Burke said.
