Parks System Hits Record Revenue

Greenfield Park Golf Course. File photo by Dave Reid.

Milwaukee County Parks recorded its best year ever for revenue generation in 2022.

The parks system is a beloved amenity managed and maintained by Milwaukee County. But the parks does not have a dedicated funding source and has gotten ever less of the county property tax over the years. The county has a structural deficit created by out-of-control pension liabilities and more than a decade of stagnant and declining assistance from the state.

The parks system has weathered significant cuts over the years. It has a fraction of the staff that once maintained and programmed the system. And it has an ever-mounting backlog of maintenance and infrastructure needs that verge on $500 million.

To maintain the system, the department has had to maintain itself. More than 50% of the funding used to run the system is now generated by park fees and amenities. In 2022, the department set a revenue goal of approximately $23.2 million for itself. It ended the year having brought in approximately $24.9 million, representing 60% of its 2022 operating budget.

“This was a record year,” Jim Tarantino, deputy parks director, told a county board committee Wednesday. “This was an absolute in recent history, recorded history, the highest revenue year we have ever seen at the parks department.”

Revenue from golf, food and beverage sales, commissions from sales at amenities leased to private partners (like The Dock at Bradford Beach), facility rentals, boat slip fees and commodity sales were all higher than the department expected, Tarantino.

Golf continues to be critical to the operations budget of the parks system as a major source of revenue. It’s not just rounds of golf, either. Parks has invested in golf carts and golf cart paths in recent years, too, as these rentals have proven particularly lucrative. One golf cart can generate approximately $3,000 in revenue during the golf season.

The beer gardens have also become a reliable source of revenue, generating well over $2 million annually in recent years.

But the fiscal situation of the Parks, and the county in general leaves limited funds to invest in improving the system. Tarantino told the board’s Committee on Health Equity, Human Needs and Strategic Planning that more than 80% of the funding in 2022 that could be used to make improvements to parks and amenities “went to fixing what was broken.”

“We have the assets to support the county’s strategic vision more strongly,” he  said, emphasizing the potential of the parks to help realize the county’s strategic plan to improve health outcomes and eliminate racial inequities. But the money to do this is lacking because of the county’s fiscal problems. Tarantino mentioned “programming at community centers or increasing access to nature” as things the department would like to invest in, “but they don’t get the attention that we would like to see, or the investment that we would like to see, because we are so focused on fiscal health.”