YOUNGSTOWN Figures show a 'solid' district

The debt-free park district has a $798,000 capital reserve fund.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Having undergone cost cutting in many areas, Mill Creek MetroParks emerged financially stronger at the end of 2003 than a year earlier, park figures show.
"We're strong and vibrant and, for the future, I think that we're very solid," said Susan Dicken, park executive director since July 1, 2002.
With revenues of $10,716,921 and expenditures of $9,235,629, the park district ended 2003 with a general fund cash balance of $1,481,292.
That cash balance is $105,333 higher than the $1,375,959 carried over from 2002 to 2003. In 2002, revenues were $10,340,938 and expenditures were $8,964,979. To avoid having to borrow money, the park district relies on its cash balance to cover the winter months when it lacks activity fee revenues.
The debt-free park district ended 2003 with a replacement reserve fund of $798,000, which is restricted to capital improvement projects, such as roof replacements. That fund is derived from gas well royalties, said Carol Potter, director of development and marketing.
Cutbacks made
Although Dicken emphasizes the park district is not experiencing a financial crisis, the park district has been making numerous cost cuts as it faces skyrocketing health care and workers' compensation costs.
Through a combination of resignations, retirements and layoffs, full-time park staff has been reduced from 85 to 67 since mid-2002, with many positions merged or abolished. Last fall, the park district announced three naturalists were being reduced from full-time to part-time status, thereby losing their health-care benefits.
The personnel cuts are projected to save the district about $500,000 a year, said David Christy, park district treasurer.
By mid-February, park staff will have moved out of rent-free park housing at Fellows Riverside Gardens and Yellow Creek Park, and only Experimental Farm staff will continue to be in park housing.
Other cuts include elimination of visits by the park's education staff to out-of-county schools, and leasing 34 acres of the farm to a farmer for $2,100 to free the farm manager to spend more time educating the public, Christy said.
The park is saving about $50,000 a year by not operating the badly deteriorated ice rink, which park officials said would cost $300,000 or more to rebuild. By repositioning full-time staff, the park didn't have to hire any seasonal employees in the sledding area this winter at the Wick Recreation Area, Dicken said.
Approach to purchasing
The park district uses a team approach to budgeting to avoid duplication in purchasing, Christy said, noting that material and supply costs have been cut by $60,499 from 2002 to 2003. By joining a state purchasing group, the district saved some $4,800 a year on road salt, he noted.
By seeking local expertise at Youngstown State University, the park district doesn't have to hire as many outside consultants, Dicken said.
Employee health-care costs have been increasing at about 20 percent a year, Christy said. The costs have risen from $551,500 for health plan year 2001-02 to $690,800 for 2002-03. Costs are estimated to be between $760,000 and $910,000 for the current plan year, he said. Although the park district's fiscal year is the same as the calendar year, the health plan year begins Aug. 1 and ends July 31.
In its labor negotiations, the park administration is asking its police and maintenance workers to begin making contributions towards their health-care premiums, said Carl Nunziato, park trustee.
Penalty rating
Because of the cost and frequency of park district claims, the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation has given the park district a penalty rating, which terminates its membership in a group rating program, resulting in the district's workers' compensation premium rising from $52,000 this year to about $305,000 next year, Christy said.
Last summer's flooding of the golf course, which closed the South 18 holes on many days, caused 2003 golf revenues to drop about $212,000 below those of 2002, Potter said.
Total storm damage was close to $1.5 million, Potter said. Of that amount, about $175,000 is eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement, Christy noted.
Revenues from the Mahoning County-wide 1.75-mill, 15-year property tax levy, which began in 2002, and provides almost 63 percent of the park's general fund budget, are not projected to grow substantially, Christy said. The park also doesn't have an opportunity to dramatically increase activity fee revenues, he added.
"We have to run efficiently," Dicken said. "We've been entrusted with a great legacy, and we have to make sure that that's maintained into the future," she concluded.