I am here on behalf of the Farm Park Preservation Association to address the extreme budget cuts to the Parks and Heritage Services Dept. reflected in the proposed budget for 2012.

We support full funding of the Parks and Heritage Services Department at the 2011 level and believe that the cuts are unwarranted considering the value of the P & H Department to the county residents and to Montgomery County’s image.

The P& HS Department budget for 2011is only 1.2% of the county budget. That is slightly more than one cent of every dollar.

Eliminating the $5 million P&HS Dept. is approximately twice the amount cut from any other major department or appropriation funding, including the library or college.

The P&HS Dept. budget for 2011 would be about 13% of the total shortfall.

The increase in tax per homeowner to fund the P&HS Dept. at the 2011 level would be about $14.85, or 11.4% of the total increase of $130 in 2012.

Not raising taxes for several years is not always good stewardship. To provide what is important to the quality of life for county residents some revenue enhancement might be necessary to fund the Parks and Heritage Services Dept. at the 2011 level.

Although the published 2012 budget is a proposal at this time, it appears the cuts in other areas were made with a scalpel while the cuts to the P& HS Dept, were made with a hatchet.

These locations are not just empty fields and old buildings. Residents use them for relaxation (walk, fish, boat, hunt), education (history, environmental ed., nature walks), entertainment (concerts, Park in the Dark, special seasonal events, civil war reenactment), health benefits (run, bike, ski, swim), observation of wildlife in their natural habitat and a multitude of flora throughout the parks.

Once the parks and heritage sites are gone they will probably be gone forever, depriving Montgomery County residents of treasures they might take for granted. It is much more expensive to restore these sites than to maintain them.

One line that was not included in the proposed budget is the value of volunteers at the parks and historic sites. Since I am more familiar with the NFP I will use the NFP as an example. Many residents volunteer to work in the parks and historic sites to help run programs that bring others to the sites for entertainment ( ex. Dean Garafalo held three concerts at the NFP free because the NFP budget wouldn’t permit hiring entertainers in 2011. He committed again in 2012.) Some volunteers maintain park resources that could not be maintained due to budget issues. Volunteers maintain and monitor Bluebird house trails in NFP that is part of a national bluebird project. Employees from several companies, sometimes as many as thirty-five at a time regularly volunteer at NFP. Park in the Dark at the NFP would not be possible without resident and county volunteers. Resident volunteers lead bird walks, bug walks, etc. to supplement the work of the Environmental Education Dept. that has been reduced to two full time employees in 2011. This Dept. runs many educational programs at the county locations and at schools using available resources in order to operate within their budget.

What will the closing of the P & HS Dept. mean to Montco’s image? Montgomery County has a reputation as one of the most desirable counties in the state to live and work. One of the factors that people use to choose where to live is the dedication to open space and parks as well as to historic sites. Montco’s image will suffer from the publicity of closing parks, trails and historic sites, possibly lowering the tax base rather than raising it. Montco is in competition with other suburban counties. In a period of high unemployment residents tend to use facilities such as parks to enjoy spare time without significant investment.

The Norristown Farm Park is uniquely critical since it is a square mile of open space in a densely populated area bordered by Norristown, the county seat, and West and East Norriton Townships. Within the NFP is an operating farm where residents, especially children, can observe crops from planting to harvesting along with impressive vistas from the surrounding roads.

The Farm Park Preservation Association respectfully requests that you fully restore the P & HS Dept. budget to the current 2011 level for 2012. It would be a tragedy to do otherwise.

Joe Gallagher, Vice President Farm Park Preservation Association