« Gwinnett parks may face more budget cuts »

As work continues on the 2012 Gwinnett County budget, Gwinnett parks may face the brunt of falling tax revenues.  Some of the shortfall may land in the laps of local youth athletic associations.  While I sympathize with families who would face additional time demands for sharing in park upkeep as well as increased fees, this is actually only fair.  Whether you use parks yourself, the community as a whole does benefit from the park system through improved quality of life and reduced crime.  These benefits go to support property values.  As such, it is entirely proper that we all share some of the costs of the park system through taxes.  However, those who actually use the parks should bear a greater share of the costs due to their direct benefit.  I have long felt that there should be some sort of permit that park uers should have to purchase to use the county parks.  The fee for such a pass would not necessarily be exorbitant but would shift more of responsibility for supporting the parks to those who benefit the most.  I say this as a county resident who uses my local park.  The possible shift of funding park maintenance to the sports associations would indirectly progress toward this goal, though many park users who do not participate in sports would continue to no more of the costs than taxpayers who never visit a park.