In a recent column for the Stuart News, Gil Smart wrote that Sailfish Splash Park would lose money for the year. (You can read it here )
He mentioned the park ended the fiscal year in the red by $350,000. 2020 is an exceptionally bleak year for the park and many other things in the County because of COVID. I agree with Gil that falling short of expectations and requiring a County taxpayer subsidy this year is to be expected.
Yet there has never been a year where the park did not require a subsidy. Year after year, many of the park’s costs (e.g., payroll) were picked up by the County’s general fund. The Martin County Taxpayers Association devoted an entire paper to the park pointing out the yearly deficit. (It can be found here )
At the end of Mr. Smart’s column, he wrote that he believes Sailfish should be treated as every other park and be heavily subsidized because it is an amenity for Martin County. He goes on to say that spending millions more by the County to keep the park fresh is a necessity to keep the place operating and draw in visitors. I can’t tell you how strongly I disagree with both those statements.
Much of the reason for the disagreement is because of the differences in our definitions of what a park should be. In my opinion, a park is to be used by all residents for recreational purposes. Undoubtedly Sailfish is for recreation, but not every resident is able to access that park.
When there is an admission charge of $13.95 for kids and $15.95 for adults, many residents cannot afford to take advantage of that County-built and taxpayer-supported amenity. When a family needs $70 to use a County facility, many of our residents are automatically excluded. The families who cannot afford to go there are probably the ones that need the park the most.
The park cost nearly $9 million to build and has a plan to spend another $5 million in improvements. The same residents that can easily afford Sailfish’s admission probably have a pool in their condo complex or backyard. Those that cannot afford the price of admission probably do not have their own pool.
Like so much in Martin County, we dream of having Taj Mahals. Our Commissioners don’t seem to care that for the constructing and projected improvement costs of $14 million, several community pools could have been built throughout County neighborhoods.
County parks that rely on tax dollars are there to provide recreation for all. They are not there for any other reason. Government should provide good “quality of life” experiences for their residents. But they need to be either free or with a minimal admission fee.
Mr. Abate, the Parks Director, once said that Sailfish needs to spend money for improvements so it wouldn’t lose so much money. Is that what our tax dollars should be used for to minimize bigger losses? That isn’t money well spent.
Some of us, including the Commission, have lost sight of what government should be about.