Consultants suggest Austin pools and parks sell naming rights
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Swimmers in Barton Springs Pool in Austin. Photo: John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle/Getty Images
Amid a budget crunch, consultants hired by the city of Austin have floated selling naming rights to local playgrounds, pools and other park properties.
Why it matters: With money scarce, the cutting of city services has become a real possibility and city officials are trying to figure out how to raise revenue instead.
Catch up quick: Less-than-expected sales tax revenue and the cancellation of federal grants has driven a projected $33 million city budget deficit.
- The city engaged PFM Group Consulting and the Trust for Public Land to examine the needs, challenges and solutions for Austin's parks.
What they found: The parks department leans on the city's general revenue fund more than counterpart departments in Atlanta, San Diego, Seattle and other cities, the consultants found.
- Almost three-quarters of the city's parks and recreation department's (PARD) annual operations expenses — $100.5 million in the 2024 fiscal year — are paid for by the city's general fund.
- The parks department that year generated $15.9 million in revenue from cemetery lot sales, program fees and other services.
What they're saying: "PARD will have to either cut expenditures, receive additional funds from the city's general fund, or develop additional revenue sources to sustain its operations," the PFM consultants determined.
Yes, but: With state restrictions on local governments' ability to raise revenue by adding taxes, some revenue-raising options are off the table.
Zoom in: The consultants forecast that a new, $1 monthly dedicated parks fee on utility bills could yield $5.4 million annually.
- City officials could also increase the monthly drainage fee on utility bills, and divert more money from that to parks.
- The parks department "can issue naming rights in exchange for donations," the PFM Group consultants also wrote.
State of play: Two councilmembers threw cold water on the naming rights idea.
- "We need to find new ways to provide the basics, like cleaning the bathrooms and taking out the trash, and ensure there is shade and the swings aren't broken," Austin City Councilmember Ryan Alter, chair of the council's parks committee, tells Axios.
- "I don't think we need to sell the names of parks to do this yet, but we must think creatively and explore other opportunities to sustainably fund our parks for generations to enjoy."
- "Naming rights is not something I'm open to and I won't propose that we seek sponsorships for any city parks," Councilmember Paige Ellis, vice chair of the parks committee, tells Axios. "I want to make sure we are appropriately maintaining our parks with our public dollars."
What's next: City officials will soon speak with counterparts at Travis County to discuss the possibility of setting up a new taxing district charged with raising money for parks — another suggestion by consultants — per a memo last week.
- But such an initiative may require approval of tax-shy state lawmakers.