Tigard Park System Master Plan - City of Tigard

TIGARD PARK SYSTEM MASTER PLAN UPDATEOPERATIONS AND CAPITALPROJECTSGENERAL FUNDThe General Fund is the primary operating fund for the City. It goes tosupport a wide-variety of City functions, including police, fire, emergencymedical services, comprehensive planning, parks operations andmaintenance. Parks and recreation competes with these City services fordollars. Still, the General Fund is, by far, the largest source of revenue forparks operations and maintenance. Staff salaries and benefits, officesupplies, equipment maintenance, and staff training are all covered by theGeneral Fund in annual budget cycles. The General Fund is fed byproperty taxes, interest earnings, intergovernmental transfers, and otherfunds as noted below.Property TaxProperty taxes are the largest single source of revenue for Tigard’s GeneralFund. Nevertheless, property tax revenues are not typically used tosupport parks operations and maintenance.Interest EarningsInterest earnings refer to the amount of interest earned on reserved orfund balances during the fiscal year. Interest earned in parks specificfunds, such as dedicated parks operations, park SDCs or capital funds, isavailable for the same purposes as the principal being invested. Publicfund investments are highly regulated in Oregon, with allowable interestyielding only limited returns.Intergovernmental TransfersThis funding mechanism refers to funds transferred from outside agencies.Examples include transfers from the state or federal government as anallocated pass-through revenue source, RV registration fees, and gasolinetax transfers.OtherOther sources of general fund support include state-shared revenue,licenses and permits, hotel/motel tax, community services, and firecontracts, which comprise nearly one-third of the General Fund.Franchise fees, utility license fees and business income taxes make up theremaining portion.FUNDING SOURCES D - 1