The New Year brings budgetary considerations for the Eureka Springs Parks & Recreation Commission, and discussions began Jan. 8 at the Harmon Park office where four of seven commissioners gathered with one Parks staffer to prepare a $500,000 annual budget.
Absent were Cameron DeNoewer, Ruth Hager and Draxie Rogers, as well as Director Justin Huss.
Chair Bill Featherstone read line items of the 2018 actual income statement in an effort to estimate revenue and expenses for the current year. Those reports show an income of $566,447 and expenses of $454,493, resulting in an overall profit of $111,954.
Responsibilities of the commission are the preservation, protection, and enhancement of 16 “pocket parks,” parks that lie within city limits, as well as Lake Leatherwood and Black Bass Lake. The primary expense for these is human resources.
Currently the commission has five full-time and five part-time employees with salaries and wages totaling $274,828 in 2018, and an estimated $80,000 increase in 2019 for additional staff.
Park vehicles consist of four fleet trucks proving unreliable with higher than estimated repairs, $18,099, bringing the discussion to the purchase of newer vehicles as a measure of risk management.
Featherstone stated his aim to acquire trustworthy equipment and, “Quit doing this, buying someone else’s problem.” Non-vehicle maintenance and repairs ran $30,612 in 2018, and contract labor was minimal at less than $5,000 for lawn mowing of Harmon Park.
Primary revenue considerations for the commission are the ¼-cent sales and use tax combined with the ⅛-cent conservation tax of $249,829 in 2018. Cabin and camping lodging earned $90,552 in 2018, and boat rentals brought in $26,471. The new Lake Leatherwood trails shuttle is expected to generate new income in 2019 of a conservatively estimated $26,000.
“The downhill trails are a huge smashing success,” Featherstone said.
The final 2019 budget will be voted on Jan. 15.