(1) the source and background of the problem underlying the issue, (2) the policy issue problem, (3) policy alternatives, and (4) policy recommendations.
Source and Background of the Problem
Background on the problem underlying the policy issue analyzed is presented in this section, along with an identification of the sources of the problem. This information is presented within the contexts of (1) a description of the problem situation, (2) outcomes of prior efforts to resolve the problem, (3) an assessment of past policy performance, and (4) the significance of the problematic situation.
Description of the Problem Situation
Tightening budgets are causing local level governments in the United States to either curtail parks and recreation services or to seek alternative funding sources for such services. Parks and recreation departments have long been placed in the stereotypical role of stepchild by local level governments when funding is considered. Capital funding is a particular problem for parks and recreation departments. As an average in the United States, approximately 50 percent of capital funding for parks and recreation at the local government level comes from general tax revenues, with somewhat more than 15 percent derived from bond referendums, 12 percent from user fees, eight percent from state governments, three percent from the federal government, three percent from private gifts, and nine percent from miscellaneous sources. As increased pressures are placed on the generation of general tax revenues, the funding problems being confronted by parks and recreation departments are exacerbated. Serious funding problems for parks and recreation departments began to be recognized in the early 1980s under the policies of the Reagan Administration. The problem began to be recognized at an even earlier date by local level governments in California in the wake of the passage by voters of Proposition 13 in 1978.
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