Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 02/08/2018

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Finance - Strategy 3: Ensure Parks and Trails Legacy Funds are spent in a manner that conforms to the statewide Parks and Trails Legacy Plan. The Council is the fiscal agent responsible for administering appropriations from the Parks and Trails Legacy Fund to the regional park implementing agencies. It is imperative that the Council ensures the Parks and Trails Legacy dollars are spent in the intended manner. To that end, the Council will ensure regional park implementing agencies target the funds to projects that capture the strategic direction outlined in the Parks and Trails Legacy Plan. The Parks and Trails Legacy Plan, described in greater detail in Chapter 5, specify four strategic directions: • Connect people and the outdoors • Acquire land, create opportunities • Take care of what we have • Coordinate among partners The four strategic directions parallel the policy direction put forward in Minnesota's Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP, 2014). Most notably, SCORP, citing changing population demographics and declining per -capita participation in nature -based outdoor recreation, emphasizes the importance of connecting people to the outdoors. While regional park implementing agencies do a great deal to connect people to the outdoors, and their efforts should not be diminished, the additional funds made available by the Legacy Amendment enable them to do more in this regard. The additional funding allows for the enhancement of what is already being done and be innovative and creative in trying to capture and serve a broader and more diverse population. Considering the statewide significance of connecting people to the outdoors, a percentage of Parks and Trails Legacy Fund dollars should be used for that purpose. In 2015, the Council - in close collaboration with regional park implementing agencies, Parks and Trails Legacy Advisory Committee, and other partners and stakeholders - will identify a minimum percentage of Parks and Trails Legacy appropriations that should be used to "connect people and the outdoors." Once determined and approved by the Council, the Council will require regional park implementing agencies to adhere to the determined minimum level of spending as it pertains to their annual share of the Parks and Trails Fund appropriations. It is important to note this in no way alters the funding formula that is applied to the overall Parks and Trails Legacy Fund appropriation. The minimum level of spending would be initiated during the 2018-2019 biennium, which begins on July 1, 2017. Finance - Strategy 4: Investments to be funded by the Capital Improvement Plan and Parks and Trails Legacy Fund must be included on the legislatively authorized project list. To access its share of grant funds from the Capital Improvement Program and Parks and Trails Legacy Fund, a regional park implementing agency must have the proposed project included on the