From the Jeffersonville News and Tribune:
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Mayor Jeff Gahan’s veto of a new parks deal between the city and county was upheld earlier this month by the New Albany City Council. While the Floyd County Council agreed to still pay an additional $100,000 toward the parks department for the remainder of the year, the city and county remain under a prior agreement that led to funding discrepancies in the past.
According to the Gahan administration, the city paid about $4 million more to the parks department than the county since 2004. Under the terms of the contract, the city and county were to evenly fund the department based on population, which has been nearly equal over that span.
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“The city of New Albany will continue to honor our agreements and fully fund the parks department,” Gahan said when he announced his veto. “It is time for the county to do the same for the betterment of all Floyd County.”
But Klink said there were several misconceptions surrounding the history of parks funding. One of the main misapprehensions was that the city was owed money by the county for the shortfalls, Klink said.
Though the city serves as the financial entity in the agreement, Klink said the shortfall was in the parks department, not the New Albany general fund. Thus the parks would be owed any financial settlement, and Klink said the department isn’t looking to collect.
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[T]he idea of a parks district was brought before the state General Assembly in 2011, with Floyd County serving as the sample for the proposal. With a district in place, the parks department could collect its own taxes without budget approval from the city and county.
The bill was amended, discussed thoroughly in Indianapolis and ultimately passed the House before stalling and dying in committee in the Senate.
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A parks district “would provide consistent funding across the entire county, including those in New Albany,” he said. “So it’s a consistent tax levy that eliminates this city-county funding agreement.”
The parks board voted to pursue the district in 2011 in support of Clere’s bill.
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http://newsandtribune.com/floydcounty/x915989957/Board-chair-Parks-district-best-solution-for-New-Albany-and-Floyd-County
