Economy Dims Prospects for Fairfax Parks Bond Issue

The Fairfax County Park Authority Board hopes to persuade voters to approve a bond issue in November that would raise $77 million for county and regional parks, a task that in most other years has been almost unnecessary because of the popularity of county parks and the public's willingness to spend on them.

The bond proceeds would fund projects large and small, including purchasing parkland, renovating four recreational centers, creating a small observatory for stargazers, building a bridge over a trail prone to flooding and drawing up a site plan for a possible visitors center at historic Colvin Run Mill.

"We're very strongly supportive because we want to move forward," said Robert Lundegard, president of the nonprofit group Friends of Colvin Run Mill.

But against a swiftly changing national background of failing investment banks, government bailouts and widespread problems with home mortgages, supporters of the Park Authority's bond package say extra effort might be required this year to convince voters of the importance of authorizing new debt.

"People are very concerned now. We know we're facing that," Park Authority Board Chairman Harold L. Strickland said. He also said that eight of every 10 residents use a park every year, and in the past, residents have been enthusiastic in their support for more open space and athletic fields and proper maintenance and modernization of properties. A growing emphasis, he said, has been on environmental stewardship. "Look at your parks," he said. "That's what your bonds have bought you."

But Arthur G. Purves, president of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance, said turmoil in the financial markets is as good a reason as any to think twice about taking on debt. With the county's estimated total debt at $2.26 billion, the government spends more each year paying down existing obligations than it receives from new bonds, Purves said. Last year, the county paid $253 million in principal and interest on its debt while floating $234 million in bonds.

"They've dug themselves a hole," Purves said. "Governments with bonds are like teenagers with credit cards."

The referendum on the 2008 Park Authority bond issue will decide whether the county should issue $77 million in bonds. Of that, $12 million would go to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, which often coordinates its operations and plans with the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Fairfax's proceeds would include $14.38 million to acquire parkland through outright purchase, conservation easements and other methods; $1.48 million to extend trails and improve stream crossings; $11.52 million to develop new features, including a skate park at Lake Fairfax Park and a small, roll-top astronomical observatory at Observatory Park in Great Falls; $19.74 million to overhaul recreational centers in Spring Hill, Lee District, Oak Marr and Providence; $11.64 million for stewardship projects, such as restoring Huntley Meadows Park wetlands and $6.23 million to expand athletic field capacity, such as by adding lights and converting four grass playing fields to synthetic turf, whose extra durability and imperviousness to bad weather allow more people to use them more often.

If the bond issue is approved, county officials would be authorized to issue the bonds only as needed, said Winnie Shapiro, Braddock District representative on the Park Authority board.

"They don't have to sell the bonds, and they wouldn't if the climate had changed and the situation was bad," she said. "You have to take into account that Fairfax County has an excellent track record in terms of its finances."

Guidelines on borrowing have allowed the county to earn the highest credit ratings from three national rating services, she said. Those guidelines include making sure the county's net, long-term debt is no more than 3 percent of its entire tax base and to spend less than 10 percent of annual revenue paying off that debt.

Strickland said that although borrowing always costs more than saving, residents would also have to wait years for athletic fields and recreational facilities that are in short supply. He said most park supporters understand that.

"The voters have generally been pretty sympathetic toward supporting their parks," Strickland said, adding that he would be "shocked and devastated" if voters defeated the bond issue. "All of these projects would be put off for at least two years."